Following the announcement by Government on Tuesday 17th March that certain businesses will be eligible for different business rates reliefs, the Council has been working to identify ratepayers who qualify for the various grants and reliefs.
The Council received updated guidance from Government on Thursday 19th March. Since receiving the guidance, officers have been gathering information to award business rates relief for all retail ratepayers, including organisations such as sports and leisure clubs, which were recently announced as eligible by Government.
The Council intends to award the revised Retail Discount relief to all relevant accounts in the next few days and issue confirmation of the awards to those ratepayers, along with revised Business Rates bills showing no rates liability for 2020/21.
Ratepayers who pay by Direct Debit and who are awarded this relief will not have payments requested from their bank for their 2020/21 liability.
More information will be published on the Council’s website www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk and social media channels as soon as it’s available.
The Government has also recently updated its web pages on employer and business support. More information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19.