New figures show City of York Council is one of the quickest councils in the country to pay grant funding to local businesses.
The data shows that York council ranks 12th out of 314 local authorities for the percentage value of payments made and 37th for the number of payments made.
As of 19 April the council had paid out £35.2m out of a total of £44.3m to 2.6K out of 3.5K businesses.
Council leader Keith Aspden said: “We recognised that getting these payments out quickly was vital to the long term sustainability of our local businesses.
“That is why council officers have been working extra shifts over weekends and bank holidays to process these payments, whilst ensuring rigorous fraud checks are in place.
“I would like to personally thank all the staff who have gone above and beyond to put us in this good position.”
‘Get in touch’
He acknowledged there was “more work to be done” and said the council will continue to process all the remaining payments as quickly as possible.
“I would strongly encourage any business, who has not yet done so, to get in touch with the council and see what support is on offer, from the government grant system, to our own local £1 million emergency fund for small and micro businesses.”
Cllr Andrew Waller, executive member for the economy and strategic planning, said: “There is also work ongoing to include those companies who qualify but have not yet applied to ensure that all funding is utilised.
“Alongside these grant payments we are providing a range of support, advice and guidance for businesses, including free advertising across our local media for any businesses still operating.”
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