Local discretionary discount
Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF)
On 25 March 2021 the government announced plans to provide an additional business rates support package, worth £1.5 billion, to support businesses in England affected by Covid-19 but not eligible for existing support linked to business rates.
Guidance on the general administration of this funding was provided to us on 15 December 2021 and work is ongoing to develop a discretionary policy to distribute these funds. The money will fund business rates relief for the 2021-22 financial year only.
Businesses will not be eligible for this funding if:
- they are in receipt of or would otherwise be eligible to receive an expanded retail discount, nursery (childcare) discount or airport and ground operations support scheme
- their property is unoccupied (other than properties that have closed temporarily due to the government’s advice on Covid-19)
- their business has not been adversely affected by the pandemic and they have been able to adequately adapt to any impact.
There may be other exclusions from our scheme. This page will be updated once more information is known about the scheme.
An award of CARF is likely to amount to a subsidy. Therefore any relief provided under the CARF scheme will need to comply with the UK’s domestic and international subsidy control obligations.