Businesses in Brent could benefit from additional Government funding to tackle the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic – but councillors said it is “nowhere near enough”.

As part of the Discretionary Grants Scheme, Brent Council can spend an extra £3.3 million on small businesses that were unable to benefit from previous handouts.

It is encouraging all those eligible to apply as it finalises its strategy on how to allocate the funding.

According to a report, which will be discussed at a council cabinet meeting on Monday (June 15), there are plans to split the allocation into grants of £5,000.

Cllr Shama Tatler, responsible for business at Brent Council, noted that, while the funding is welcomed, it is “nowhere near enough what will be needed, given the expected demand for this support”.

She said divvying up the money into blocks that could benefit 660 businesses in the borough is seen as the fairest way to address this.

She said: “It puts councils in a catch-22 situation, where if you spread the money too thinly across too many businesses, it makes little or no impact, but concentrate it too finely and many in desperate need will miss out.

“We want to make sure that this money available goes as far as possible, and so cabinet will be asked to consider this plan to distribute the £3.3m.

“By focussing on small businesses, limiting each payment to £5,000 and by prioritising those with more employees means that we can get more help, to more businesses and help safeguard as many jobs in Brent as possible.”

If approved by cabinet, the council will invite eligible businesses to apply for a grant during a one-week window, which is to be announced.

If, as expected, more than 660 eligible businesses apply and meet all the criteria, a ranking system will then be applied and payments made, until the £3.3m from the Government has been spent.

Visit www.brent.gov.uk/businessgrants for more information on the Discretionary Grants Scheme.