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Firms in England, which were most impacted by the Omicron variant, received less than half of the £635m support package promised by the Government, according to the analysis by the real estate adviser Altus Group.
The analysis shows that just £305m of the £635m distributed to 309 English Councils had been paid out less than three weeks before the final cut off for applications on 18 March.
Altus said the news comes after the Omicron variant unleashed a “tidal wave” of Covid that swept through countries at breakneck speed with firms in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors seeing a “massive decline” in footfall and increased cancellations over the Christmas and New Year period.
Under the Omicron Hospitality and Leisure Grant Scheme, councils received funding to be allocated in one-off grants to businesses worth up to £6,000 to be paid to hospitality, leisure and accommodation businesses in England based upon the rateable value of their properties.
Altus said its analysis revealed that 29 councils had “failed to distribute a single penny” whilst a further 89 councils had distributed less than half of their total allocation in grant funding to those firms hardest hit.
Carlisle City Council and East Herts District Council had both paid to local firms less than £1 for every £10 of the funding that they had received.
However, it also found that seven Councils including the London Borough of Barnet, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Leicester City Council, Warrington Borough Council, Bury Council, Burnley Borough Council and Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council had actually paid out more in grants than they had received from Government ahead of the scheme closing for applications.
Robert Hayton, UK President of Altus Group, called it a “postcode lottery”.
He said: “These types of businesses saw one of their most valuable trading periods wiped out and simply didn’t get the support they needed quickly enough. I just hope Councils rallied at the end.”
