BRADFORD Council is set to see more than £13 million in unspent emergency funding be taken away in what has been described as a “smash and grab raid” by the Government.

The Labour Party has condemned the move by the Government which will see money set aside to support struggling Bradford businesses taken away, despite the district still being under local lockdown.

At the start of national lockdown in March, the Government made hundreds of millions of pounds available to councils to support small businesses and those in the hospitality, leisure and retail industries after they closed due to Covid-19.

Bradford received £135,934,000 in funding and has so far allocated £122,175,000 to local businesses through 10,758 grants at an average payment of £11,357.

The Council has £13,759,000 remaining in unspent funding, which was operated on a ‘use it or lose it’ basis with a deadline of August 30.

Labour is concerned about this funding being taken back, given how the district remains under local restrictions, coupled with a 10pm curfew on pubs and restaurants, which is taking its toll on the hospitality sector leading up to Christmas.

Worries have also been raised over what this means for businesses with furloughed workers, the night-time economy, and businesses in areas on local lockdown, and is calling on the Government to redeploy the remaining funding in a Hospitality and High Streets Fightback Fund to protect businesses and jobs through winter.

Lucy Powell MP, shadow minister for business and consumers, said: “Businesses are in a fight for survival.

“Ministers must reverse this smash and grab raid on business support or risk the decimation of our high streets.It makes zero sense to remove economic support while public health restrictions are tightening.

“It’s now clear that some places and some businesses are going to be acutely hard hit over a longer period than was first thought.

“Rather than clawing remaining funds back, the government should redeploy these funds and allow local areas to use them flexibly to support those businesses and town centres hardest hit, before we see waves of redundancies, shuttered high streets and viable businesses going bust.”

Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, said: “I absolutely support this call.

“We’ve asked many times to be able to keep the leftover money which Government gave us to distribute as defined business grants.

“After weeks of local economic restrictions, many businesses are struggling and Government needs to think about saving livelihoods as well as lives.

“I know MPs cross-party have made the same plea of Government. I hope this time they will listen.”

A Government spokesperson said it was always clear unspent funds would have to be returned, and that it continues to support businesses in a range of ways.

He said: “Our support for business has reached, and continues to reach, millions of firms across the country.

"More than £11 billion has been paid out in grants to almost 900,000 businesses, with a further £617 million available to councils to use at their discretion.

"We have also backed businesses with a wider package of support worth almost £200 billion, including cuts to VAT and business rates relief.

“We keep all financial support under review to support businesses who need it most. That’s why we introduced new targeted support for businesses in England that are required to temporarily close due to local interventions to control the virus, who will now be able to claim up to £1,500 per property every three weeks.”