Please see below a brief list of the grants available from Welsh Government, and administered through Ceredigion County Council.  Things are changing on a daily basis and further information will be published if other grants will come available.

Ceredigion County Council has set up a web page specifically to help businesses in Ceredigion access the support that’s available to them. The support landscape is changing almost on a daily basis. The UK Government has introduced a range of measures, including a support package for the retail, leisure and tourism sectors and I am sharing with you the information that has been made available.

Ceredigion County Council is administering both the Business Rates Relief and Grants scheme set out above. Local Authorities are taking slightly different approaches, and I mention this, as some of the recipients of this message will come under Carmarthenshire County Council administration. We in Ceredigion have chosen to put an application process in place (it’s a simple, 2-minute application process). We are also asking for one piece of evidence in the shape of a copy of a bank statement. This is an added measure to protect against potential fraudulent applications, and to ensure that payments are made to the correct recipient.

Some businesses will find themselves outside the scope for this support e.g. due to a rateable value that’s higher than £50,000. We have been contacted by some businesses that have rateable values in excess of the above figure, making them ineligible for the £25,000 grant.

There is little we can do in this case – rateable values are not determined by Ceredigion C.C. It is based on a calculation of a property’s value as determined by the Valuation Office Agency.

CCC will only be able to work on the basis of the agreed current rateable value. It is the Authority’s intention to turn applications around as soon as is practically possible in order that businesses can benefit as quickly as possible.

Other sectors

Clearly, there will be many businesses operating outside these sectors, which will be equally challenged by the current crisis. The Welsh Government’s announcement of a further £1.1bn of support may help these businesses. Details of the support measures that form this package of support are still emerging. We will post the details on our website and communicate those to businesses via social media. They are likely to be administered by Development Bank for Wales (for loans) and Business Wales (grants).

We understand that a number of WG budgets have been used to make up the £1.1bn package. We are not aware yet of any budgets relating directly to CCC work that have been reduced.

We hope that most queries can be answered through the specific web page: http://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/business/covid-19-support-for-businesses-and-employers

If there are any questions or anything at all I can help you with, then please get in touch. If you know of anyone who needs help in any way then please ask them to contact me on 07870 604199 or 01974 298076.

Cllr. Rhodri Evans

 

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