A massive 69,543 of eligible SMEs in England have yet to claim for the government coronavirus grants announced back in March.
This amounts to almost £1.5bn worth of funding, as revealed by new figures from money.co.uk.
So far the government has given almost one million small to medium-sized businesses in England an emergency coronavirus grant – either in the form of the Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) or the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Grants Fund (RHLGF)
Earlier in August, figures showed that £10.8bn had been paid out to businesses, highlighting that a significant sum of this money has gone unclaimed.
The deadline for claiming these grants is this Friday, August 28 and any unassigned funding will be returned to the government.
>See also: You have just one month to claim up to £1.6bn in unspent grants
How much grant funding has my local authority given out?
The average grant provided by English councils is £12,269. Camden is giving out the most per grant, providing SMEs an average of £18,852. This is closely followed by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (£18,740) and Westminster Council (£17,615).
Out of the top 20, three quarters (75 per cent) of local authorities paying out the most are in London.
Hyndburn Borough Council (£10,360), Forest of Dean District Council (£10,722) and Rossendale Borough Council (£10,740) are paying out the lowest value per grant.
Cornwall Council has the highest number of eligible businesses who are yet to receive a grant, but has paid out the largest sum in emergency funds, dishing out £236,670,000. This is followed by Birmingham City Council (£210,110,000) and Leeds City Council (£153,765,000).
| Local authority | No. of hereditaments the LA has identified as 'may be in scope to receive a grant' | No of grants paid to hereditaments | No of grants unclaimed per LA that have been identified as 'may be in scope to receive a grant' | Amount of money allocated to each LA unspent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cornwall Council | 23,828 | 20,868 | 2,960 | £44,782,000 |
| Birmingham City Council | 19,278 | 17,480 | 1,798 | £21,466,000 |
| Dorset Council | 10,405 | 8,884 | 1,521 | £28,250,000 |
| South Lakeland District Council | 6,468 | 5,024 | 1,444 | £15,679,000 |
| Wiltshire Council | 8,879 | 7,474 | 1,405 | £17,203,000 |
| East Suffolk Council | 6,798 | 5,435 | 1,363 | £39,361,000 |
| Sheffield City Council | 9,334 | 8,078 | 1,256 | £17,483,000 |
| Buckinghamshire Council | 7,582 | 6,429 | 1,153 | £7,546,000 |
| Wealden District Council | 4,667 | 3,536 | 1,131 | £7,017,000 |
| Shropshire Council | 7,810 | 6,797 | 1,013 | £11,445,000 |
Meanwhile, the Council of the Isles of Scilly (£4,075,000), Oadby and Wigston Borough Council (£11,630) and Epsom & Ewell Borough Council (£9,945,000) have provided the lowest amount of grant payments across England.
Last opportunity
Salman Haqqi, personal finance expert at money.co.uk says: “Back in March, the Chancellor announced a whole host of emergency measures to try and protect the economy from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With the deadline for grant applications fast approaching, it is imperative that businesses that need support and are yet to claim, assess their financial situation and if needed submit their claim urgently.
“While there has been much confusion in the past with regards to eligibility, now is the last opportunity for businesses to find out if they are eligible and how much funding they could apply for.”
Find out more about the emergency grants and how to apply over at Find your small business coronavirus grant – list of UK councils. This includes councils in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
For other funding opportunities, check out our guides to the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and the Microbusiness Bounce Back Loan.
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