Milton Keynes Council hits back after accusation of only spending slither of £5.4m business support fund

    Milton Keynes Council has hit back after being accused of only spending a small amount of a £5.4m business support fund.

    In November 2020, the Council received £5.4m from the Government's Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). This funding was awarded to the local authority to support struggling businesses that are otherwise not covered by other grant schemes, or where additional funding was needed.

    But, according to the Conservative Group, Labour-led Milton Keynes Council has distributed just £309,000 so far. The group claims that 7.2% has been given to local businesses, and that the remaining £5.1m remains in the Council's money pot.

    Milton Keynes Council can decide which businesses to target, and can determine the amount of funding that local businesses receive. The Council says this funding must last until April 2022, which works out at just over £300,000 per month.  

    However, Milton Keynes' Conservative MPs have asked the council to reassess its eligibility criteria to ensure more businesses can benefit.

    Iain Stewart, MP for Milton Keynes South, says that he has been told many of his constituents have been "turned away" by the Council when applying for the funding. He added: “The many sized businesses we have in Milton Keynes are a source of income and livelihoods for residents so it is essential that they can get access to the financial support being offered to survive this pandemic.”

    Ben Everitt, MP for Milton Keynes North, also echoes Iain Stewart MP's concerns, and states the he too has received messages from "numerous businesses" that have been unable to access the funding. 

    Both MPs say that they have written to the Council regarding the matter. Ben Everitt MP added: “Iain and I have written to the Council asking them to look at reassessing the criteria for benefitting from this fund which is supposed to be helping Milton Keynes’ small and medium sized businesses through the current restrictions.”

    Leader of the Conservative Opposition Group, Cllr Walker, has branded the situation as "outrageous" and is calling on the Council to allocate further funding.

    But the Leader of Milton Keynes Council, Cllr Pete Marland, says that the Additional Support Grant funding needs to cover the period from December 2020 until April 2022, which is around £300,000 a month.

    Cllr Marland said: "MK Council is currently administering over 18 business support schemes and the rules and burdens imposed by government are insanely complex. Despite that we’ve distributed nearly £60m to local businesses quickly and efficiently.

    He continued: "Given the size of the gaps in the national scheme it simply isn’t possible to cover the all the gaps in the government’s national scheme, and Conservative MPs pointing businesses they’ve failed to help towards a mediocre level of funding and claiming it can do it all is risible. However, MK Council will be tweaking the ASG scheme to try and help more businesses later this month."

    Cllr Marland says that the Labour Group has "consistently called for more national support" for small businesses, sole traders, and for the self-employed. "It is the Conservative government that has let them down," he added. 

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