Issue - meetings

Officer: Shifa Mustafa

Key decision: yes

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To

1.     Note progress in implementing Croydon’s Discretionary Grants Fund Scheme

2.     Note and endorse the phased extension of the Discretionary Grants Fund Scheme that included additional categories of businesses through Phases Two and Three as more fully detailed in the report.

The Cabinet Member for Economy & Jobs noted that the report provided an update on the progress of implementing the Discretionary Grant Fund which had been announced on 1 May 2020. In Croydon, the share of the grant fund had been £2.8m which had benefited 597 businesses.

Members were advised that the Cabinet Member had personally visited a number of businesses across the borough which had expressed their appreciation for the grants allocated to them. Furthermore, officers had contacted all businesses and had provided support for them to submit applications where necessary.

Concerns were raised that whilst over 500 businesses had received grants, there were around 400 hospitality businesses which had been in receipt of grants. Further concerns were raised that only 82.7% of the funding had been allocated which placed Croydon in the bottom 10% of councils for allocating the grants.

In response, the Cabinet Member advised that the council had been following government guidance and were ensuring due diligence had been followed when issuing grants. Issues had been experienced as almost 300 businesses had been in contact with the council which were not part of the business rates system. The Cabinet Member and officers had been lobbying for more guidance to enable grants to be paid to those businesses. Members were assured that an update on this would be provided by the end of the month on this matter.

In relation to the Shop Local Campaign and Love Your Local Business, the Cabinet Member stated that the council was in communication with local businesses and was providing support. It was recognised that footfall was integral to these businesses and, as such the Cabinet Member and chief officers were continually lobbying for additional support from government, the LEP and Coast to Capital for the local economy.

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To

1.    Note progress in implementing Croydon’s Discretionary Grants Fund Scheme

2.    Note and endorse the phased extension of the Discretionary Grants Fund Scheme that included additional categories of businesses through Phases Two and Three as more fully detailed in the report.