Small businesses in Dorset are being reminded to provide their details online to get access to coronavirus cash grants, with the council having already handed out £9.1m this week.
To help lessen the impacts of the shutdown, firms which already receive small business rate relief or rural rate relief may be eligible for a £10,000 grant, while retail, hospitality or leisure businesses operating from property with a rateable value of up to and including £15,000 may also be eligible for a grant of £10,000. Those in the retail, hospitality or leisure sector with a rateable value of between £15,001 and £51,000 may be eligible for a grant of £25,000.
Dorset Council has distributed grants to 770 businesses and continues to process information from a further 4374 businesses who have completed the online form. Others who are eligible but not yet registered are asked to do so as soon as possible to receive their cash. The online registration form is available at www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/business-grants
Cllr Gary Suttle, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Economic Growth and Skills, said:
“Dorset Council is committed to supporting our business community. The grants are currently our priority, and we are aware that there are still businesses yet to confirm their eligibility. Please complete the online e-form, this is your money and we want it to be with you and supporting you as soon as is possible.”
The council’s revenues and benefits team has drafted in colleagues from across the organisation as each registration must be verified before payment is made. The awards are taking approximately 10 working days to process, ensuring that all eligible businesses get fast access to funding.
I’m self-employed, and I have, as yet, recieved nought! No advice, no aid, no links to applications, nothing at all! What do I/we do!? I have maybe two weeks of food money left. No money to pay the bills… Come on, council!
Hi, please see Gov.uk for advice for self employed people. Thanks, Kirstie
Hi James, Gov.uk have released this information today https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme I hope this helps.
I got my ref number over 10 days ago and have still yet to receive anything? Is this now taking longer than 10 days ?
Hi James, We’ve paid out almost half of applicants and are aiming to pay the rest by the beginning of next week. Thanks, Kirstie
I applied 16th of April given a case number
Have heard nothing and received nothing
Who should I contact and how.
Allen
Hi Tanya, The payments team has been working on a ten day turnaround for applications which are straightforward and don’t need additional verification processes. If you applied on 16th, ten working days takes us to 30 April, which is when we hope to have the majority of grants paid by. If you’ve still not heard anything by Friday, please email comms@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk mark for my attention and I will chase for you. Thanks, Kirstie.
Hi
Please can you notify when the Top Up discretionary grant will be launched ? I note you updated the site last week but wanted to know when applications can be submitted.
Hi, The scheme will be live from early next week. We will advertise the online application process on our social media channels and through the press. Thanks, Kirstie
My business is shut , still getting rate demands so paying the £589 each month.Have applied for a grant 2 week ago approximately, not heard a word or had a e mail either way ?
Hi, your grant should be with you within 10 working days. Thanks, Kirstie
Farmers Palmer’s has submitted but heard nothing
Should we call?
Hi, you should have received a case ref once your application was submitted, if you have that, the money should be with you within 10 working days. Thanks, Kirstie
We applied for £10k grant on 1st April. Had a case number sent by email. Now 1 month later still waiting! BCP Council unreachable and nobody seems to want to help. Meanwhile our debts increasing. Fearing the worst now unless help is available real soon.
Is it necessary for a small business, that receive SBRR, to be registered with Companies House, to be eligible for a Corona Virus Cash Grant?
I/we applied 2 weeks ago and have heard nothing but people we know have received an email from DCC stating they are eligible. Why haven’t we?
Hi, if you have a case reference you should receive your grant within 10 working days. The team’s priority is to pay as many businesses as possible over the next few days.
Hi Kirstie, Are you able to update on how long we are expecting to be waiting? There was an update published 9th April (here) stating X amount of businesses have been processed but no updates anywhere since.
We submitted an application on 2nd April online as soon as the portal was available and have heard nothing since and have not received any payment or contact.
Thanks in advance
Hi there AT, when you applied did you get a case ref? If you did, rest assured you are in the system and if you haven’t yet heard anything further you should this week. As far as I’m aware, the payments team are working to send out the majority of grants by beginning of next week. Thanks, Kirstie
Hello, I run a local free publication and have been doing so for 21 years. I have hadto cancel my next two monthly publication as we relie on advertising revenue toncover our print and dustribution costplus give usa wage for producing this local information magazine. I applied online to Dorset County Coucil for a government grant over two weeks ago but have heard nothing back from DCC. I pay council tax on my office which is part of my home based near Bridport.
Hi Philip, the payments team are working to send out payments to eligible businesses by the beginning of next week. You can check your eligibility here
Thanks, Kirstie
I received a confirmation email and reference number on April 1st and as yet have not received any further notification. Reading the notes the expectation is to receive a grant in 10 working days.
It is now 12 working days and have received no further notification?
Hi Roy, we are aiming to get the majority of payments made by the beginning of next week. Kirstie
Hi there, I appreciate how busy you are, but I applied on 1st April 2020 for the Small Business Cash Grant, recieved an initial confirmation email with a reference number telling me we would have the money within 10 working days (should have been the latest today 17th April), then a further email on 9th April stating the grants would be issued with the next 10 working days, so am I to wait till 24th April, as not seen any funds at all as for today (17th April)… would appreciate clarification as bills/rent due again! Thank you.
Hi, have you received payment or acknowledgement yet? The payments team is aiming to get the majority of payments from people who have already applied, by the beginning of next week. Kirstie
Hi
I sent application on the day it was released, when you say 10 days to receive the payment are you talking from now or from the date of application?
Hi Jason, We’ve paid almost half of applications submitted and are aiming to get the majority of the remainder paid by the beginning of next week. Kirstie
I applied on 2nd April and received a case reference but nothing else. The 10 working days would have meant that we should have been paid on 17th April but this has not happened. I contacted Katie Hail, the head of Revenues & Pensions and she has not responded either! We have now incurred extra bank charges and need this money urgently????
Hello there, have you received notification of your grant yet or would you like me to chase on your behalf?
Kirstie
Having received an application form in the post, I returned that. Do I also need to register online?
Hello Elaine, yes I would advise that you register online. You can do that here – https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/emergencies-severe-weather/emergencies/coronavirus/business-and-employers/coronavirus-business-support-grant-funding.aspx I’m not aware that we sent out any paper forms at all. Thanks, Kirstie
I have no record of receiving a case reference number, does this mean I should re-apply ? I applied over 2 weeks ago now.
Hi Charles, sorry to state the obvious but have you checked your junk file, we know quite a few have ended up in there. Thanks, Kirstie
Thanks for the thought there Kirstie, but I have nothing from SVPP in my junk going back to 1 April. Please advise my next course of action?
Hi again, can you email comms@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk with your contact details and short explanation and I’ll chase on your behalf. Thanks, Kirstie.
I posted this on Friday 17th but it seems to have disappeared so here goes again and apologies if it shows up twice!
Having received an application form in the post I returned it by post (two weeks ago). I’ve heard nothing; am I likely to get an email or postal reply? But do I need also to register online?
We applied on April 2nd, have a case ref (FS-Case-191236720) have chased via email (to benefits@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk) twice, including providing extra information that may help speed our claim, but heard nothing. Please could you help? We are a small new company with rent etc to pay.
Hi Sophie, please can you send your contact details and case ref to comms@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and I’ll chase on your behalf. Thanks, Kirstie
We applied on1st April and received an email confirming our case number is FS-Case-190825706. That is 19 days ago now and still no monies received and no further contact from the council. How much longer?
Hi Gary – could you send me your contact details please to comms@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and I’ll chase the team for an update. Thanks, Kirstie
I applied for the SBRR grant on 1st April, it was passed to DCC accounts dept on 8th April, I have telephoned and been told it will be paid – but when?
Hello Caroline, Have you received notification of your funding yet or would you like me to chase for you? Kirstie
I applied for the SBRR grant on 8th April and I’ve now been waiting 3 weeks without any communication from the council. Central government gave Dorset Council this money weeks ago (51 million!). Since then they’ve been reaping the interest when it should have already been distributed. We are suffering out here and need the money.
Hi Greg, Sorry you’re still waiting, if you could message me with your contact details – comms@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk, I’ll pass on to the payments team for a response. Thanks, Kirstie
Hi Kirstie, thank you for replying. I have emailed you our information and the application reference number. Any help with speeding the process would be gratefully received. Thanks, Greg.
Thanks Greg, have emailed you. Kirstie
We are a small business located in Isle of Purbeck we submitted our application online on 8 April 2020, we received an email with our case number – we have heard nothing since. We are concerned as we are need of this support have been closed for well over 6 weeks.
Apologies 2nd time posting this message as does not seem to have been published. We are a small business in the Isle of Purbeck, we applied online the 8 April, we received a confirmation via email with a case number but have not received any correspondence or payment. We are desperate need of financial support.
Hi James, please email us with contact details and your case ref number at comms@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and we can chase for you. Best wishes, Kirstie
Hi Kirstie we run a small business from a home office and we are not eligible for a grant under SBRR is there any other grant available to keep our business afloat
Hi Dave, as you probably know the Govt announced a ‘discretionary fund’ in the briefing on Saturday. We’re working through the details of this and are awaiting further information about how this might help businesses such as yours, that have not been eligible for any packages of financial support up to now. We’ll share information about the eligibility criteria and how people can apply, as soon as we get this info from Govt. It is likely to be shared on our facebook and twitter accounts as soon as we have it, and there will be some kind of e-form for people to fill in again. Hope this helps. Kirstie
Hi have the discretionary grant details been announced yet it seems to be taking an awfully long time
Hi, The scheme will be live from early next week. We will advertise the online application process on our social media channels and through the press. Thanks, Kirstie
Hi Kirstie I have sent an email to your team but still no reply so i’ll post here .
I have applied for the 10k small business grant back in early April 2020 and still havent received any reply. I am unsure if there will be any confusion since I took over the chip shop business from my father just over a year ago . The business is under my name and the Vat, but the Business rate bill and the Dorset Waste Partnership account information is still under my fathers name as I pay rent to my father for the premise ( my father also still works part time as an employee for me) . Please would you kindly follow up and reply back and if you require any additional information I would be happy to send. This is my application reference
FS-Case-194167410
Hi there, I’m sorry we haven’t responded to your email. I will forward these details to the Revenues and Benefits team for a response. Thanks, Kirstie
Hello,
We are a new business that is less than a year old. We are VAT registered and are in property. If we are not very old are we eligible?
Thanks
Hi Sam
Hi, The scheme will be live from early next week along with the full eligibility criteria. We will advertise when the online application process goes live on our social media channels and through the press. Thanks, Kirstie
Hi Kirstie Snow, I need to speak to someone urgently, my son is entitled to the SBRR applied 4th April heard nothing at all, this is so wrong he has a young family, please help.
Hi Sue please email me specific details to comms@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk and I’ll be able to forward direct to the Revenues and Benefits Team for investigation and a call back. Please include your son’s case ref and a contact number. Thanks, Kirstie