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Agenda item

Phase 4: Additional Restrictions Grant (Discretionary)

Cabinet Member: Cabinet Member for Communities, Safety & Business Recovery, Councillor Manju Shahul-Hameed

Officer: Interim Executive Director Place, Sarah Hayward

Key decision: yes

Decision:

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

 

RESOLVED: To

 

1.               Approve the proposed criteria and implementation of phase four of the Additional Restrictions Grant funding allocation, as detailed in the report.

 

2.               Note the outputs that have been created by the previous phases of the Additional Restrictions Grant funding to date.

 

3.               Note that due to the Council’s successful allocaton of the £11,169,365 of Additional Restrictions Grant funding a further £2,674,867 top up grant will be secured to support businesses in the borough.

 

4.               Delegate to the Interim Executive Director of Place the power to make decisions regarding the operation of the allocation of the £2,674,867 Additional Restrictions Grant, in accordance with the funding guidance established by Government.

 

 

Minutes:

The Cabinet Member for Communities, Safety & Business Recovery (Councillor Manju Shahul-Hameed) informed Members that during the pandemic the government announced business grant schemes which were to be administered by councils. The report highlighted the work of one such grant scheme, the Additional Restrictions Grant, and the work which had been completed by officers to distribute £11 million by 30 July 2021. It was noted that Cabinet were being asked to approve the proposed criteria and implementation of phase four of the grant funding with an allocation of £2.67 million.

 

It was stated that the grants had continued to support local businesses to restart and recover from lockdowns, and reduce business reliance on other support provided by the council. The grants had prevented closures and subsequent unemployment.

 

The Cabinet Member stated that analysis of recent economic data had shown that hospitality and creative sectors needed specific support which reflected qualitative data which had been received from business networks and representatives. It was highlighted by the Cabinet Member that Croydon was the first borough to allocate additional restrictions grant specifically for black and Asian minority ethnic businesses.

 

The Cabinet Member for Resources & Financial Governance (Councillor Callton Young) noted that £11.2 million had been provided in grants and queried what the impact had been on those businesses in receipt of the grants. Furthermore, he noted that paragraph 6.3 of the report stated that funding would be monitored and evaluated against key outcomes and queried the governance which was in place to ensure evaluation took place.

 

In response to the questions, the Cabinet Member for Communities, Safety & Business Recovery stated that the grants were an iterative process which coincided with criteria setting and business grant allocation. Case studies had been undertaken as part of the Love Croydon Shop Local campaign. It was noted that the hospitality and nighttime economy had been badly affected by the pandemic and so the council had introduced an evening and nighttime economy grant. That funding had been allocated within three days and so a further grant was introduced for district centres. Members were further informed that the nighttime economy grant had been evenly allocated across the borough and did not focus only on the town and district centres.

 

The growth and innovation grant was also noted by the Cabinet Member as this grant process had been revised following feedback from businesses.

 

The Director of Growth, Employment & Regeneration (Stephen Tate) advised Members that data and feedback was key in ensuring the grant process was a success. The council had built upon information and data it had and data it had received from London Councils and the South London Partnership. It was noted that it had been a discretionary fund which had enabled the council to shape and adapt the fund depending on feedback.

 

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Communities, Safety & Business Recovery (Councillor Andy Stranack) stated that he was very grateful to the government for the grant monies it had provided to Croydon. Concerns were raised that there had been cases of young people stealing in Central Parade and that following him raising concerns the Police were conducting patrols. It was noted that the report stated one of the priorities of the scheme had been to alleviate geographical deprivation, as such the Shadow Cabinet Member requested that the £10,000 allocated to New Addington be increased in light of it being one of the most deprived areas.

 

In response, the Cabinet Member stated that staff had worked tirelessly to ensure funds reached businesses across the borough. It was reported that a video had been recorded with Ken Burgess (Director and Chairman of the New Addington Central Parade Business Partnership) in relation to the support the council had provided, which was due to be published by the council’s Communications team the following day.

 

The Cabinet Member noted that the criteria set by the government had changed from having to distribute all the grants by March 2022 to July 2021; which the council had achieved. Due to the success, the council had been allocated a further £2.6 million and it was the ambition to support all the businesses which had fallen through the cracks.

 

It was stated by the Cabinet Member that all London boroughs had struggled with the criteria set by the government, but the council had worked to that criteria and had worked with businesses to ensure additional support was available. Support, it was further noted, was being provided to not just existing businesses but to start-ups who wanted to make use of empty units also. Should the council receive additional funding, the Cabinet Member offered to work with the Shadow Cabinet Member to provide more funding for New Addington.

 

It was noted by the Cabinet Member for Croydon Renewal (Councillor Stuart King) that the Leader of the Council and the Croydon Chamber of Commerce had written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in relation to the doubling of furlough costs to businesses. The impact of the withdrawal of furlough was highlighted by the Cabinet Member for Croydon Renewal as staffing costs would increase which would lead to businesses having to decide whether to retain staff, and the Cabinet Member stressed the council needed to do all it could to support businesses.

 

In addition to the issues in relation to the cost of furlough, the Cabinet Member for Communities, Safety & Business Recovery highlighted the impact on mental health which would require additional support. Business rate relief was further highlighted as a problem and the Cabinet Member called on the Opposition to work with the Administration to challenge the government to ensure support was provided to businesses, communities and residents.

 

The Cabinet Member for Resources & Financial Governance (Councillor Callton Young) noted that since 2010 the council had received £144 million less from the government due to a 75% reduction in core funding. He challenged that the government could not take money and not return it when such an amount would support the borough during such a challenging period.

 

Challenges in relation to what was felt to be a bureaucratic system for applying for grants were received from the Leader of the Opposition (Councillor Jason Perry). It was stated that the council was in the bottom 10% of the country for delivering the grants in a timely manner. He challenged how businesses could trust the council given policies to remove free parking and increase street trading fees would impact on them. He further raised concerns that he felt that the council continually criticised the government and did not take responsibility

 

It was highlighted by the Cabinet Member for Communities, Safety & Business Recovery that over £93 million of grants had been distributed by the council due to the hard work of officers. Additionally, she stated that phase two of the grants had been the most open within London as it supported any business from any sector as long as the business was based in Croydon and had a turnover of £15,000. In terms of the challenge that Cabinet criticised the government, the Cabinet Member stated that it often took a number of weeks for the criteria to be released by the government or it was changed during the allocation of grants to businesses which had required staff to continuously adapt. The Cabinet Member concluded by stating that the average turnaround of a grant application was three days.

 

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

 

RESOLVED: To

 

1.               Approve the proposed criteria and implementation of phase four of the Additional Restrictions Grant funding allocation, as detailed in the report.

 

2.               Note the outputs that have been created by the previous phases of the Additional Restrictions Grant funding to date.

 

3.               Note that due to the Council’s successful allocation of the £11,169,365 of Additional Restrictions Grant funding a further £2,674,867 top up grant will be secured to support businesses in the borough.

 

4.               Delegate to the Interim Executive Director of Place the power to make decisions regarding the operation of the allocation of the £2,674,867 Additional Restrictions Grant, in accordance with the funding guidance established by Government.

 

 

Supporting documents: