City of York Council is starting to make the first of the latest phase of Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) payments to eligible businesses affected by the rise of the Omicron variant.
In February, the council opened a new round of ARG funding to support businesses severely impacted by the rise of the Omicron variant but not able to receive any other form of COVID-19 grant support.
This came after the government’s announcement to allocate a further £102 million for local authorities through Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) funding. York’s share of this top-up is £300,786.
Since opening the new round, City of York Council has received more than 150 applications from local businesses.
Interested businesses can find more information about the ARG grant application process, funding and eligibility criteria.
Central government has set national guidance for how the funding is to be administered which is followed by the council in distributing grants. In accordance with this guidance, the council is required to verify the evidence provided by businesses when processing ARG applications.
Businesses are encouraged to read the ARG eligibility criteria carefully and ensure that they submit the necessary documentation as evidence to support their application.
Interested businesses must apply for the ARG funding before 11:59pm on Friday, 11 March 2022 in order to allow enough time to assess and verify all applications.
Councillor Andrew Waller, Executive Member for Economy and Strategic Planning said: “Although national COVID-19 restrictions have lifted, this remains a challenging time for many of our local businesses. Having recognised that some businesses are under pressure, the council aims to support them in any way possible to maintain jobs across the city.
“The council has successfully started to make the first Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) payments to eligible businesses affected by the rise of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. For businesses who may be eligible for the grants but still haven’t applied, I encourage them to visit our COVID-19 business grants information webpage to view the eligibility criteria and see how to apply.
“The ARG scheme has previously proved to be a lifeline to local small businesses and the latest round aims to support sectors most severely impacted by the rise of the Omicron variant including travel and tourism, companies dealing with events, and the personal care sector as well as other businesses missing out on previous government schemes for whom we have been making representation to government.”
