Covid-19 Additional Relief Fund

On 17 December 2021, the Government announced it would provide local authorities with a COVID-19 Additional Relief Fund (CARF) to support those businesses affected by the pandemic but who were ineligible for existing support.

Bedford Borough Council has been provided with £4.086 million of funding to assist eligible businesses, linked to their 2021/22 business rates charge, and is applying its discretionary relief policy to help those businesses.

Who will qualify?

Your business must have had a Business Rate balance to pay for the 2021/22 financial year (after other reliefs have been applied) and

• Was not in receipt of Nursery Discount, Expanded Retail Discount, the Grounds Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS), Mandatory Relief (80%), Discretionary Relief (20%), Small Business Rate relief or Rural Rate Relief Awarded at 100%.
• Was in occupation of an assessment on 15 December 2021 and was occupied throughout the 2021/22 chargeable period. Properties subject to unoccupied rates do not qualify.
• Has been adversely affected by the pandemic and has been unable to adequately adapt to the impact.
• Has not exceeded the relevant subsidy control limits. 
• The assessment is not included in the “excluded” list of relevant hereditaments.

The excluded hereditaments fall within these sectors:

• financial services
• education
• health
• professional services
• public administration
• transport services
• advertising
• utility services
• storage
• communication stations / telecommunications

For a full list of excluded hereditaments please see attached policy.

In addition, if the ratepayer is in formal liquidation, dissolved, struck off or subject to insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings, including debt relief order or striking off notice then they will not be eligible.

 Awarding of relief - RV under £200,000

Bedford Borough Council has automatically awarded relief to those businesses that meet the qualifying criteria and have a rateable value of under £200,000.

We will write to all businesses that have received relief and if they do not meet the above qualifying criteria they are required to notify us.

The award of relief has been calculated at 22.54% of the net business rates liability (after all other reliefs), up to a maximum of £25,000. 

Awarding of relief - RV over £200,000

Eligible businesses with a rateable value of £200,000 or more will be required to complete an application form to apply for the relief. We will be issuing forms to businesses that might be eligible.

Need an application form or to opt out of the scheme? 

The easiest and quickest way to advise the Business Rates team you have not received an application form, or to opt out of the scheme is to do it online. You will need to sign in to your online account or register for an online account. Once signed in, select 'contact us about your account' (located in the Popular services panel).

Register for a Business Rates account 

Registering for an online Business Rates account will allow you to:

• view your up to date account information
• check your balance, payments and bills
• switch to paperless billing
• update your contact details

to register for an online account you will need your account number as it appears on your Business Rates bill plus one of the items from the following:

• the postcode for your business property
• the last 3 digits of a telephone number you have already registered with us
• the last 3 digits of your bank account number if you pay by Direct Debit

You can also use the registration process to let us know if you would like to switch to paperless billing.

Register for an online Business Rates account 

Sign in to your online Business Rates account 

If you already have an online Business Rates account you can sign-in here:

Sign in to your online Business Rates account