North East Lincolnshire Council

Council to distribute new £4.5-million to help businesses hit by Covid

North East Lincolnshire Council will distribute £4.5-million to eligible local businesses as part of the Government’s Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund.

The Government created the £1.5-billion fund to support businesses affected by the pandemic but not eligible for existing business rate support.

Cabinet members met on 8 September to discuss a report about the fund and how it will be distributed.

Now that it has been approved, North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) will distribute the money in the form of business rate relief refunds for the tax year 2021/22.

The relief will be paid to businesses outside the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors (who have already benefited from other types of relief).

Guidance from the Government sets the criteria the Council must follow when allocating the fund.

Councils must:

• Provide direct support to business ratepayers who have been adversely affected by the pandemic and have been unable to adequately adapt to the impact.
• not award relief to ratepayers eligible for other certain reliefs
• not award to unoccupied properties (unless temporarily closed due to Covid).

There is no need for businesses to apply for the funds. The Council will use data from the Office for National Statistics, the Valuation Office Agency and its own records to identify the businesses most affected by the pandemic and apply relief directly to their business rates accounts.

Councillor Stephen Harness, portfolio holder for Finance, Resources and Assets, said: “This additional support is excellent news for businesses in our area who were hit by the pandemic but weren’t eligible for other types of business rate relief.

“We expect 770 businesses in North East Lincolnshire will benefit from the £4.5-million support package.

“More information will be made available to eligible businesses in the coming weeks.”

Residents encouraged to Neighbouring residents in Scartho and Waltham are being encouraged to take part in a public consultation on plans to build two new primary schools.

The schools, which would provide much-needed school places for children aged 4 to 11, will be built on land off Matthew Telford Park in Scartho and on the land known as ‘Sunningdale’ in Waltham.

Both pockets of land are owned by the Council and have been earmarked as sites for education provision for some time.

Drawing of how the school may look on the Scartho Top Education Land. | Photo: NELC

The plans for the two new schools were approved by the Council’s Cabinet in March this year, and are expected to go through the formal planning application process in the coming months, seeking permission to begin construction around spring and summer 2023.

According to a letter sent to local residents in these areas, new housing developments has meant that there is an increased demand for the school places.

Drawing of how the school may look on the Sunningdale Education Land in Waltham. | Photo: NELC

Speaking about the proposed developments, Councillor Margaret Cracknell, Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services, said:

“New housing brings with it an increased demand for school places, so we have to plan carefully to ensure schools can cope with current and future demand.

“It’s vital that we continue to put children at the heart of what we do, and access to a good quality education is key to ensuring our children can perform well and reach their potential.

“These proposed new primary schools will each offer an additional 210 places for children and ensure families in these areas continue to have a choice over their children’s education.”

Local people wishing to have their say on the planned primary schools email [email protected] or write to The School Assets Team, 1st Floor, Civic Offices, Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, DN35 8LB.

The Pre-Application Consultation period for these proposals will last for 14 days and will commence on the 29 September 2022, closing on 12 October 2022 Only responses received during the 14 days’ consultation period will be considered.