More than £35 million paid out in Covid grants by Ashfield District Council
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Official figures show the authority paid out £35.4 million from 8,981 payments.
Councils in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire have distributed more than a quarter of a billion pounds in grants to struggling businesses and traders in the last two years.
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The funding came as part of numerous Government grants and support schemes launched during the pandemic to keep businesses afloat during lockdowns and local restrictions.
Tens of thousands of payments were made by councils during the two years to March 2022, with councils saying the support has allowed local traders to keep their heads above water at a time when they were ‘hit hardest’.
Figures from six out of eight distributing authorities in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire show councils distributed at least £320 million over the past two years.
Nottingham City Council, which includes Bulwell in its area, confirmed it has distributed more than £100 million in grants to more than 3,000 businesses since March 2020.
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Bassetlaw District Council had the highest payout of of all the responding district and borough authorities, confirming £47,458,338 was paid out in 11,979 individual payments across 12 grant schemes.
Rushcliffe Borough Council paid out more than £36 million in Covid grants and reduced £19.2 million in business rates bills, while Mansfield paid out almost £36 million.
Ashfield came next, while Broxtowe Borough Council has paid out £34.9 million from 10,461 payments.
Newark & Sherwood District Council did not respond to Local Democracy Reporting requests for figures.
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However, Government data shows the authority will have distributed at least £25 million, meaning councils across Nottinghamshire will have issued more than £355 million in grants since the pandemic began.
The funding was provided to local authorities from Whitehall to distribute to traders, with eligible businesses, traders and the self-employed required to apply to their council for payments.
All Government business grant schemes have now closed with restrictions no longer in place across England.