AQW 9599/17-22 Written question to the Minister for the Economy
To ask the Minister for the Economy whether businesses registered independently but with the same (i) trading name; (ii) registered business address; and (iii) company directors were eligible for separate, of the same or differing variety, Executive grants to help businesses affected by COVID-19 restrictions.
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
- 12 February 2021101 days after tabling
- Department
- Department for the Economy
- Priority question
- No
Answer
| £10k scheme | £25k scheme | Hardship Fund | |
| Businesses registered independently with the same trading name | Eligible if separately registered companies. | Eligible if separately registered companies | Eligible if operating as separate entities. |
| Businesses registered independently with the same registered business address | Eligible if separately registered companies operating as separate businesses paying separate rate bills. | Eligible if independently registered companies with same address. Would have to be operating as a separate business from same address and paying separate rate bills. | Businesses that were separate entities and registered independently at the same address would have been eligible for payment though the amounts available would have been dependent on their rating status. |
| Company Directors | Would be potentially eligible for each individually registered company that meets the criteria. | Not taken into account as it was businesses who were eligible not directors. | Two separate companies with the same company directors would have been eligible for multiple grants if they met all other criteria. |
Businesses that were in receipt of the £10k or £25k grant schemes were not eligible for payment from the Microbusiness Hardship Fund. Checks were carried out between the three schemes to mitigate against the risk of multiple payments.
For the £10k scheme, only one grant was paid in respect of each property and only one grant was paid to each eligible business, irrespective of how many properties the business occupies.
If separate businesses are operating from separate properties, then a grant could have been paid in relation to each separate business that occupies a separate property.
If a business had multiple properties and one of these grants fell within the £25k scheme eligibility, and the other within the £10k scheme eligibility, the business was eligible for one £10k grant and one £25k grant.