New business support grant for taxi and private hire drivers

City of Wolverhampton Council is offering grant support to Wolverhampton taxi and private hire drivers whose business has been significantly impacted by the current lockdown.

The Additional Restriction Grant – Taxi and Private Hire Grant Scheme is offering eligible divers a one-off payment of £2,000.

It is aimed at Hackney Carriage and private hire taxi drivers who live in Wolverhampton.

Drivers must also provide their badge details and have worked as a taxi driver for a minimum of six months.

The taxi scheme is the latest of a number of grants administered by the Council, which has seen £60million paid out to Wolverhampton businesses throughout the pandemic.

Councillor Stephen Simkins, Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: “Trade for Wolverhampton taxi drivers, like many other businesses, has been significantly impacted by the current lockdown and this new grant will provide a lifeline to them.

“Many small businesses across the city are in a similar boat and I would urge them to head to the business grants webpage and find out exactly what funding is available to them at this critical time.

“As a council we have ensured thousands of eligible businesses have had quick access to millions of pounds of vital funding to help them through this most difficult time.

“Working within the Government guidelines, we will ensure these grants get allocated as swiftly as possible as our city looks to recover from the financial impact of Covid-19.”

Councillor Alan Bolshaw, Chair of the Licensing Committee, added: “This is a fantastic scheme that will help support many of our hard-working taxi drivers who have experienced great hardship during the pandemic.

“We are aware that this has been an incredibly difficult time for the trade and we will continue to do everything we can to help our drivers during this difficult period, within the rules allowed by legislation.”

Eligibility criteria and how to access the online application process for the taxi grant and all other business support grants can be found at www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/businessgrants.

If you need help with grant applications or have a general query, you can get in touch with us by emailing business.grants@wolverhampton.gov.uk or calling the business support phoneline on 01902 290242 between 9am and 5pm from Monday to Thursday or from 9am to 4.30pm on Fridays. We are experiencing extremely high levels of demand and would urge businesses to remain patient.

All of the grants are subject to State Aid rules and are treated as taxable income.

The latest Government information on business grants and support can be viewed at https://bit.ly/32H66MX