AQW 9596/17-22 Written question to the Minister for the Economy
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.
Asked by Claire Sugden MLA on 3 November 2020
- Answered
- Written
- After due date
- Tabled
- 3 November 2020
- Answer due by
- 18 November 2020
- Answered
- 3 February 202192 days after tabling
- Department
- Department for the Economy
- Priority question
- No
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 |