Omicron Additional Restrictions Grant – Now Open
Newham has been allocated additional government funding to help other businesses which have been impacted Plan B and Omicron and are outside the scope of support which the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant provides. This is called the Omicron Additional Restrictions Grant, for which they have received £545,824 for awarding by 31 March.
The scheme will close for applications on 28 February 2022 and all final payments to eligible businesses will be made by 31 March 2022.
Additional Restrictions Grant
The government recognises that some businesses that were required to close because of COVID-19 do not directly pay business rates and therefore won’t be covered by the Local Restrictions Support Grant (LRSG) scheme and that others will not have been forced to close but will be significantly financially impacted.
Local authorities have therefore each been allocated an Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), which will cover businesses not covered by LRSG. Funding can cover one or more of the following areas:
- direct grants to business
- business support e.g. advice and guidance for businesses, and skills training to support their ability to trade in changed circumstances.
A total of £10.1m of ARG has been given to the Council to cover the period up until March 2022. This is a single lump sum and the Council will receive no further amount.
In order to accommodate future lockdown measures, the Additional Restrictions Grant will be distributed in phases.
