A total of £87.5million in grant funding has been distributed to Gloucestershire businesses to help them deal with the effects of the coronavirus lockdown.

As a result of county businesses applying for the Business Support Grant Fund and Retail Hospitality and Leisure Grants Fund announced at the start of the outbreak, 7,305 have received grants of between £10,000 and £25,000.

New data released by the government on April 20 showed 5,178 Gloucestershire firms eligible for the grants are yet to be paid and take a slice of £65.8million in remaining funds held by the councils.

The UK government distributed £12.3billion to local authorities in England and a total of £6.11billion had been successfully paid out to 491,725 business properties (approximately half of the grant funding allocated).

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: "I am very grateful to local authorities who have been working flat out to ensure these vital funds get to hard-pressed small business owners.

"Government is doing everything we can to support individual councils and help ensure that these grants reach local firms as soon as possible.

"I urge everyone to keep working at pace to get the money where it is needed quickly."

Based on council allocation data correct as of April 19, Punchline have broken down the data for each district:

Gloucester City Council 

The fund provided to Gloucester City Council by the government amounted to £21,780,000 and a total of £6.65million remains.

A total of 434 out of 1,682 eligible businesses are yet to receive their grants.

Last week, council leader Councillor Richard Cook said: "This is a difficult time for everyone, but it's fantastic that we've been able to get support funding out to businesses in the city so soon after receiving the money from central government.

You can apply for the grants from Gloucester City Council by clicking here.

Cheltenham Borough Council

Payments totalling £14,380,000 had been paid to 1,165 businesses in the Cheltenham district as of last Friday from a total fund of £24.56million.

Latest figures show 605 businesses remain unpaid out of 1,770 eligible for the grants.

These businesses are able to take a share of the £10,180,000 remaining grant funding held by the council.

Councillor Rowena Hay, cabinet member for finance, said: "We're working as quickly as we can to pay the grants to eligible businesses however we do have to make checks to ensure payments are being made to the correct businesses.

You can apply for the grants from Cheltenham Borough Council by clicking here.

Stroud District Council

The latest figures show Stroud Distruct Council had made payments to 1,439 totalling £16,130,000.

The pot handed to the council from the government was worth £26,386,000, with £10,256,000 remaining for eligible businesses in the district.

Out of 2,405 businesses eligible for the grant scheme, 966 are yet to be paid.

Councillor Doina Cornell, the council leader, said: "Clearly this is a very, very difficult time for many businesses and we are acutely aware of the need to make these payments quickly.

"Our staff are working hard to make the payments to all eligible businesses as soon as possible."

You can apply for the grants from Stroud District Council by clicking here.

Tewkesbury Borough Council  

By last Friday, Tewkesbury District Council had paid a total of £9,845,000 in 848 payments to businesses in the area.

At the announcement of the grant schemes by the government, the council was handed a fund totalling £17,176,000, of which £7,331,000 still remains.

Out of 1,599 businesses expected to receive the grants, 751 remain unpaid.

Councillor Rob Bird, leader of the council, said: "We want to ensure that businesses get all the financial support they are entitled to as quickly as possible.

"The Tewkesbury Growth Hub team is providing free advice sessions on the support announced by government."

You can apply for the grants from Tewkesbury Borough Council by clicking here.

Cotswold District Council

By Friday, the council had identified 2,909 eligible for grants and has so far paid out £16,965,000 in 1,359 payments.

Cotswold District Council's fund, the biggest out of all Gloucestershire councils, totalled £37,464,000 when originally provided by the government. 

Latest data shows that £20,499,000 still remains yet to be paid out.

It is thought that 1,550 further businesses in the Cotswold district are eligible for the grants but as of Friday, they had not been paid.

Councillor Mike Evemy, cabinet member for finance, said: "We know how stressful a time this is for business owners whose livelihoods have been greatly affected by this pandemic and our team is working flat out to get this support to them."

You can apply for the grants from Cotswold District Council by clicking here.

Forest of Dean District Council

The latest figures, correct as of Friday, show the council had made payments to 1,246 businesses, totalling £13,285,000.

Forest of Dean District Council still holds £10,885,000 out of the £24,170,000 original fund handed down from the government.

A total of 2,188 firms within the district have been identified as eligible for the grants, but 872 remain unpaid.

You can apply for the grants from Forest of Dean District Council by clicking here.