Last updated: 1 April 2021
Southampton City Council moved to the government’s new national lockdown restrictions on 5 January 2021.
All non-essential retail, hospitality and personal care services must close, or remain closed. Restaurants can continue delivery, takeaway or click-and-collect of food and non-alcoholic drinks, but venues will no longer be able to serve takeaway or click-and-collect alcohol.
Essential shops and garden centres can remain open. Entertainment venues and animal attractions such as zoos must close, but the outdoor areas of venues such as heritage homes and botanical gardens can remain open, to be used for exercise. Playgrounds may also remain open.
Indoor and outdoor sports facilities including sports courts, gyms, golf courses, swimming pools, and riding arenas must also close. Elite sport and disabled sport can continue, as can PE lessons for those children attending school.
Find out more information on the national lockdown measures on the GOV.UK website.
Restart Grants
In the budget on 3rd March 2021 the government announced they will provide ‘restart grants’ in England of up to £6,000 per premises for non essential retail businesses and up to £18,000 per premises for hospitality, accommodation, leisure, gym and personal care businesses.
The primary principle of the Restart Grant scheme is to support businesses that offer in-person services, where the main service and activity takes place in a fixed rate-paying premises, in the relevant sectors.
More information on Restart Grants
Local Restrictions Support Grants (Closed) Addendum: national lockdown payment for the period 16 February 2021 – 31 March 2021 (44 days)
- Scheme closes 31 May 2021
- Final payments made by 30 June 2021
Businesses occupying hereditaments appearing on the local rating list with a rateable value of exactly £15,000 or under on the date of the commencement of the widespread national restrictions will receive a payment of £2,096 per 44-day qualifying restriction period.
Businesses occupying hereditaments appearing on the local rating list with a rateable value over £15,000 and less than £51,000 on the date of the commencement of the widespread national restrictions will receive a payment of £3,143 per 44-day qualifying restriction period.
Businesses occupying hereditaments appearing on the local rating list with a rateable value of exactly £51,000 or above on the commencement date of the widespread national restrictions, will receive a payment £4,714 per 44-day qualifying restriction period.
Due to the volume of grant applications we have received and associated correspondence we kindly ask that you do not contact this office to chase these payments, we aim to contact you in the week commencing the 1 March 2021 with more information.
If you have not applied for the Local Restrictions Support Grants (CLOSED):
The Government is providing grants to businesses required to close in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. You must have business rating liability and be proving ‘in person services’ from your business premises.
To simplify the application process, we have created one application form. All you need to do is apply once and tell us the earliest date you were required to close, and we’ll use your application to assess your eligibility against the LSRG (CLOSED).
If you have already received a payment, please do not complete more applications.
Stay up to date with the latest grant and business information by signing up to our business mailing list.
Apply online for Local Restriction Support Grant
Local Restrictions Support Grants (CLOSED) for the period 5 November 2020 – 15 February 2021)
Key points:
- Scheme closed 31 March 2021
- Final payments made by 30 April 2021
- Local Restrictions Support Grants (CLOSED) up to the 15 February 2021
Additional Restrictions Grant
This scheme is to provide support for those businesses that have been directly and adversely impacted by the new national restrictions effective from 5 January 2021 and are not being supported via the Local Restrictions Support Grant.
The purpose of this scheme is to support those businesses that have been most impacted by the local restrictions. Hospitality, hotel, bed & breakfast and leisure businesses should apply to the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open).
Please note this scheme is only open to eligible businesses. You are advised to carefully read the Additional Restrictions policy to ensure your business is eligible. If your business is not eligible you should not apply as your submission will automatically rejected and cannot be appealed.
If you have already applied to the Local Restrictions Support Grant you should not apply to this scheme. All submissions will be cross referenced. You can download the Additional Restrictions and Local Restrictions Support Grant policy.
Apply online for Additional Restrictions Grant
Christmas Support Payment for wet-led pubs (available to open wet-led pubs and closed wet-led pubs)
On 1 December 2020, the Government announced the introduction of additional support over the festive period for wet-led pubs in areas under Tier 2 or 3 restrictions. View full scheme guidance.
Key points:
- Scheme closed 28 February 2021
- The grant is a flat rate of £1,000
- Pubs that derive less than 50% of their income from food sales will be eligible to receive funding through this grant scheme (available to open wet-led pubs and closed wet-led pubs)
- For these purposes, the definition of a pub should exclude: restaurants, cafes, nightclubs, hotels, snack bars, guesthouses, boarding houses, sporting venues, music venues, festival sites, theatres, museums, exhibition halls, cinemas, concert halls and casinos
- Businesses must have been trading on 30 November 2020 (the day before this scheme was announced) to be eligible to receive funding under this scheme. Where local restrictions are preceded by national ‘lockdown’ measures, requiring the closure of businesses that are otherwise eligible, it is accepted that those businesses are still trading
Applications for Local Restrictions Support Grants (Open) for the period (for the period 2 December 2020 - 25 December 2020). This is a discretionary scheme.
This scheme closed on 31 January 2021.
If your business needs support and you are not being supported via the Local Restriction Support Grant then please read about the Additional Restriction Grant scheme below to see if you are eligible to apply for financial support.