AQW 9596/17-22


Ms Claire Sugden
Independent
East Londonderry


Tabled Date: 03/11/2020
Answered On Date: 03/02/2021
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail the number and business type of the businesses (i) eligible; and (ii) ineligible for COVID-19-related grants that were unsuccessful in their applications; and the reasons given for not awarding them.


Answer:
For the Small Business Support Grant scheme, a total of 23,930 businesses were deemed eligible. Land & Property Services (LPS) issued 12,791 rejection e-mails to applicants to the scheme. An analysis of these figures by business type cannot be provided as this information is not held in the rating database.
A breakdown of the rejections figure by reason cannot be provided, however all rejections fell into one of the following categories:
Property listed as vacant on rating system.
Property valued as a domestic property for rates.
Not in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief.
NAV over £15,000, therefore not in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief.
Other rating exemption, meaning they are not in receipt of Small Business Rate Relief.
Rate account IDs provided were invalid.
The business had already been paid in relation to another property they occupy.
Applicant was a landlord.
Business outside parameters of the scheme (for example wind turbine, primary class exclusion, etc).
No evidence that a business was operating at the property.
Business received £25,000 grant.
Business renting part of the property from the main occupying business with no separate valuation for the part they occupy.
Business was dissolved/insolvent/dormant.
Applications relating to properties outside NI.
There were also businesses who made multiple applications for the same property who would have received a payment against one of their applications and rejections in relation to the other applications.
Applicants who were rejected for one of these reasons may have subsequently provided additional evidence that proved their eligibility and they subsequently received payment. LPS has considered 834 appeals from rejected applicants, of which 495 have resulted in a payment. 5 appeals remain to be decided.
For the £25,000 Retail Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Grant scheme, 2,995 businesses were deemed eligible. A total of 694 applications had been rejected on the grounds of duplication or ineligibility.
A breakdown of these figures by business sector is available in the ‘Operation of the scheme by council, constituency and sector’ section on the following webpage - https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/coronavirus-£25000-retail-hospitality-tourism-and-leisure-grant. Based upon applications received, this details applications by decision status (paid/rejected/being processed), and provides a facility to interrogate by District Council area, Parliamentary Constituency, and supported sector.
A breakdown of the figure for rejected applications by reason cannot be provided but applications were rejected for the following reasons:
Company Dissolved
Company Does Not Exist
Company Dormant
Duplicate Application
Ineligible Sector
Insolvency
Insufficient evidence
Not business owner
Not Trading at 15/3/2020
Not registered ratepayer
State Aid limit exceeded
Vacant property
For the NI Microbusiness Hardship Fund, 4,299 applications were eligible and received payment. A total of 661 businesses were found to be ineligible. A breakdown of these figures by business type is provided below.
Business Type
Eligible
Ineligible
Administrative, support service, defence, compulsory social security and Education activities.
399
75
Advanced Engineering & Manufacturing
449
65
Agri-Food
167
40
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, Mining & Quarrying
21
7
Arts, entertainment, recreation and other services
341
69
Construction
1,461
153
Digital & Creative Technologies
130
14
Electricity, gas, steam, air conditioning, Water Collection, Treatment & Supply
64
9
Financial, Professional & Business Services
418
53
Human health and social work activities
35
7
Leisure & Tourism
81
22
Life & Health Sciences
94
27
Primary Construction / Building
172
18
Transport & storage
185
32
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
282
70
Total
4,299
661
Details of the rejected applications for the NI Microbusiness Hardship Fund are provided below. Please note this information is provisional and may be subject to revision.
Hardship Fund Reject Reason
No of Cases
failed HMRC checks
165
LPS has indicated that your business has been paid for or approved for a LPS grant
115
No Data
73
the PAYE ERN you have entered in your application is incorrect
86
we have been unable to confirm your bank details despite two attempts to contact you
4
we have been unable to confirm your identity despite two attempts to contact you
2
you have indicated in your application that your business does not have between 1 and 9 employees on PAYE on the 29th Feb 2020
82
you have indicated that your business has applied for the £10k LPS grant and that you have been paid or approved for this grant
14
you have indicated that your business has Charitable Status
4
you have indicated that your business is a primary Agricultural producer
5
you have indicated that your business is a Social Enterprise that receives less than 60% of its income from trade in good and/or services
2
you have indicated that your business turnover has not reduced by 40% or more since the 1st March 2020 as a result of the COVID – 19 pandemic or associated Government restrictions
95
your business has Charitable status
1
your business is eligible for the Covid – 19 Childcare support scheme
13
Overall - Summary
661