Derby City Council has re-opened applications for phase 2 of its Top Up Local Authority Grant Scheme for an initial two-week period from Monday 29th June and the application window will close at 5.00pm on 13th July.

After the first round of applications, the council received 308 applications from a wide range of sectors across the city and anticipates awarding around half of the available £2.2m.

As a result, the council is launching a second phase of applications for the remaining pot.

The council is particularly keen to receive applications from Derby based not for profit organisations whose primary purpose is to deliver arts and cultural programmes who are in urgent need of financial support given the severe impact that COVID-19 has had on their income. These applicants may be entitled to up to £25,000 as opposed to the £10,000 limit for general applicants.

This scheme is designed to support eligible organisations that have been significantly impacted by COVID-19 and will focus on the fixed property costs incurred during the March-May 2020 period.

The mandatory criteria for all applicants are:

  • Businesses that have received cash grants from any central government COVID-19 related scheme (other than SEISS or CJRS) are ineligible for funding from the Discretionary Grants Fund.
  • Businesses must have been trading on 11 March 2020.
  • Businesses that are in administration, are insolvent or where a striking-off notice has been made are not eligible for funding.
  • Applicants have a business premises in Derby with ongoing fixed property costs
  • Have not already applied for phase 1 of the top up grant scheme

To apply for the scheme, complete the application at MyAccount portal where businesses are asked to confirm they meet set criteria and also provide supporting documentation in order to streamline the decision-making process.

Councillor Nicola Roulstone, Cabinet Member for Finance and Procurement said:

We know there are still small businesses out there who are in need of support, in particular, those in the arts and culture sector who have been so strongly impacted by the coronavirus lockdown. We still have money available and we want to ensure that every last penny is used to help our residents which is why we have re-opened the top -up scheme for a second round of applications.