Decision details

The purpose of this report is:
1)To seek approval to implement, in accordance with the latest Government guidance, the Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF).
2) To adopt the Council’s guidance, at appendix 2 to this report, for determining the allocation of the Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF).
3)To delegate, to the Director of Corporate Resources, the authority to determine discretionary relief award, in accordance with the Government’s and the Council’s guidance.
4)To establish a budget for the administration of the Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund, to the value of £1,189,282.

THAT:
1)the Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund detailed in appendix 1 to this report is implemented in accordance with the latest Government guidance;
2)the Council’s Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund guidance, detailed in appendix 2 to this report, is adopted as the Council’s guidance for the distribution of the Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund;
3)a delegation is provided to the Director of Corporate Resources, for the determination of the discretionary relief award of the Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund, in accordance with the Government’s and the Council’s guidance.
4)a budget is established for the administration of the Council’s Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund, to the value of £1,189,282.

The Council is expected by Government to grant relief in line with the guidance it has published.
The Government’s guidance is limited and encourages local authorities to exercise their discretion when administering CARF relief. Extensive modelling has been undertaken in order to formulate the Council’s own guidance for the administration of the CARF scheme.
The delegation is requested to ensure the timely award of the relief, efficient decision making and to avoid the Executive from becoming overwhelmed by applications. It is appropriate that this function is delegated to Officers for determination in line with established guidance.
The establishment of a budget is required as the Council will be acting as principal in the distribution of relief monies because it is the Council which has control over the amount of relief granted and the eligibility criteria to determine its award.

An alternative to the proposal to implement the CARF scheme in accordance with the latest Government guidance would be to decline the Government’s offer of funding and not award business rates relief of this nature in the Borough of Gedling. To do so however, would be to deny businesses in the Borough a significant amount of relief from their business rates which is likely to assist in business recovery and continuity following the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.
The Council’s guidance attached at appendix 2 is the result of detailed modelling based on the Gross Value Added by sector data provided by the Government in its guidance compared against the number of eligible hereditaments in the Borough of Gedling and the value of grant funding provided by the Government. An alternative to the proposal to adopt the Council’s guidance for the distribution of the Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund would be to invite applications and consider them on a case by case basis. This however, would create a very large administrative burden which the Council may not be able to resource as well as creating either a risk of allocating CARF payments above the value of funding provided by Government, or creating an unequitable “first-come-first-served” system which closes when the funding limit is reached. Neither alternative is favoured due to the risk of overpayment and/or the risk of creating a scheme without defined parameters leading to bias or unfairness in the award criteria.
An alternative to the proposal to delegate the authority to exercise the Council’s discretion would be to report each grant case to the Portfolio Holder for Resources and Reputation for his determination in accordance with the Government’s and the Council’s guidance. This would mean that the Portfolio Holder would have to consider multiple applications. This would place an unnecessary burden on the Executive and may prevent the timely granting of the relief.
An alternative to the proposal to establish a budget for the administration of the Council’s Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund would be to not establish a budget. This would however be contrary to the Council’s obligation to establish a budget and reflect the transactions in its financial statements.