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<p>Government has made £12.3 billion available to businesses under the Small Business
Grants Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund. The schemes have
been tied to the business rates system to provide a framework for local authorities
to make payments to businesses as quickly as possible as these businesses are likely
to face particularly high fixed costs, such as fixed rents.</p><p> </p><p>As of 3
May, over 697,000 businesses in England have received grants under the two schemes,
totalling £8.6bn. We do not hold data on the number of people employed by businesses
that are not eligible for this grant funding. We have, however, published a full breakdown
of grant funding allocated to and distributed by each local authority here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-localauthority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-grant-funding-localauthority-payments-to-small-and-medium-businesses</a>.</p><p>
</p><p>On 1 May, the Business Secretary announced a further up to £617 million available
to local authorities to support small businesses previously outside the scope of the
business grant funding, such as businesses in shared offices and regular market traders
who do not have their own business rates assessment. For more details, please see:
<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/top-up-to-local-business-grant-funds-scheme"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/news/top-up-to-local-business-grant-funds-scheme</a>.</p>
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