Sheffield Council lagging behind paying business grants, say Lib Dems

The Opposition councillors say Sheffield Council has only paid out 66 per cent of grants, compared with 93 per cent in York, 90 per cent in North East Derbyshire and 82 per cent in Barnsley.

The Liberal Democrats say any unclaimed money is at risk of going back to central government.

Coun Shaffaq Mohammed, group leader, says the Labour-run authority has not done enough to contact eligible businesses encouraging them to apply.

Many people have also experienced difficulty in contacting Sheffield business support due to poor telephone systems which needed updating.

Coun Mohammed said: “After more than a month of persistent questioning, we are still disappointed to learn that the council is yet to address its chronic failure in contacting businesses.

"This money should be in the bank accounts of businesses to help them through this crisis and the council needs to support them when making an application, not leaving them hanging while the rent is due.”

The council says over the past six weeks, it has paid out grants to more than 6,700 businesses, totalling £80 million.

More than 7,000 businesses have already applied for the funding, but there are still a number of eligible businesses which have not yet come forward.

Coun Mazher Iqbal, council cabinet member for business and investment, said: "We’ve now paid 93 per cent of eligible applications we’ve received.

“However, we know there are still at least 1,000 businesses out there who could benefit from this help.

“We’re working hard to contact these businesses this week, but I would also like to encourage people to be proactive in applying.

“There is specific government criteria about who qualifies but these are one-off payments that businesses don’t need to pay back, so it’s really worth finding out if you are eligible."

Applications can be submitted via the council website - you need your business rate account number to hand.

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