Councils that have dragged their feet paying out business grants could lose out when an extra £425m Government funding is distributed, it has emerged. In last week's Budget, the Government said it would provide all local authorities in England with additional discretionary business grant funding, on top of the £ 1.6bn already allocated. However, it has since emerged that the Treasury would like eligibility for the latest cash pot to be linked to how quickly councils have paid out their previous allocation of additional restrictions grant (ARG). Local authorities were originally told they would be able to distribute the ARG until the end of financial year 2021-22, but, with latest figures showing that just 13% had been paid out to firms, the Treasury position is expected to shift to encourage councils to hand out the money sooner rather than later. A Whitehall source said: 'The Treasury wants to get the money out quickly. They want to speed up getting the ARG to businesses.' Councils, which will be given time to speed up their doling out of grant, are understood to be concerned about the move to link future payments to their performance.
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