Welsh Businesses reminded to avoid making ‘multiple applications’ when applying for financial support

To avoid delays when applying for Welsh Government financial support, businesses in Bridgend County Borough are being urged to check that they are only applying for funds which they are eligible to receive.

Many businesses have submitted multiple applications to more than one fund or have not provided all of the details that are required to enable the council to process the claims quickly and efficiently.

The Deputy Leader, Cllr Hywel Williams, said: “Throughout the pandemic, council staff have been working long hours, including across weekends, to manage claims for millions of pounds of financial support, and to ensure they can be processed accurately, efficiently and as quickly as possible.

“Businesses can help speed this process up by ensuring that they do not submit duplicate applications, and that they provide all of the necessary information required for making a claim.

“In each stage of the financial support offered by Welsh Government to date, we have seen many cases of businesses submitting a claim to several different funds when they are only eligible for one.

“Unravelling these and ensuring that the correct claim is processed in order to keep everyone safe and on the right side of the law is time-consuming, and may create a false sense of being ‘left behind’ when other businesses start reporting that their financial support has been received.

“We are currently awaiting details from Welsh Government on how the latest round of funding support will be administered, so I am asking businesses in advance of this to help support us in making sure we can process their claims quickly, safely and efficiently.”

Welsh Government recently announced a new package of support for businesses which has been split into two funds – a £160m Restrictions Business Fund, and a £180m sector-specific Economic Resilience Fund grant scheme.

As part of the Restrictions Business Fund, which will be delivered by local authorities, businesses that have been materially impacted as a result of the restrictions and which have a rateable value of £12,000 or less will receive a payment of £3,000.

Tourism, leisure and hospitality businesses and their supply chains with a rateable value of between £12,001 and £150,000 will receive a payment of £5,000.

Discretionary grants of up to £2,000 will continue to be available for those not on the non-domestic rating list, and also for those not on the rates database and below the VAT threshold.

Further details on the grant application process and fund launch dates will be publicised on the Bridgend County Borough Council website and social media accounts as soon as they become available.

The sector-specific Economic Resilience Fund grant scheme will be delivered through Business Wales and target hospitality, tourism and leisure businesses. This will provide varying-sized grants of up to a maximum level of £100,000 for small-to-medium sized enterprises, and £150,000 for larger businesses.

More information about this funding and how it can be accessed will be published soon on the Business Wales website.