Important information regarding your application
It is the applicant’s responsibility to check that their business is eligible for the subsidy being applied for.
By applying for, or accepting a subsidy, you are declaring that your business will not exceed the permitted subsidy allowance threshold. If you have any doubt, please seek appropriate advice before applying for or accepting the subsidy as the responsibility lies with you.
Please note that by applying to participate on the West Yorkshire Business Boost programme you could incur a maximum amount of Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) as follows, subject to completion of all available support:
For participation on the Leadership service – £800 (per learner)
For participation on the Export service – £2,000 (if a grant is awarded) and/or £512 (per delegate attending a workshop)
What is a ‘subsidy’ (formerly referred to as State Aid)?
On 4 January 2023, the provisions of the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (“the Act”) came into force. This Act replaces the interim regime, based on the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which was put in place when the UK left the EU, and replaces the previous state aid regime.
A subsidy is where a public authority provides support to a business in a way that gives it an advantage over a competitor. More information is available here.
Where a subsidy is identified, the public authority identifies a legal route to making the award and ensures that it complies with the requirements of that particular route.
For smaller value awards, funding may proceed under the cover of the Minimal Financial Assistance (MFA) provision which allows financial assistance of up to £315,000 to be made to a single enterprise within a rolling period of three fiscal years. MFA requires a written declaration from the beneficiary confirming that the limit has not been exceeded before the subsidy can be awarded.
SPEI Assistance (SPEIA) allows public authorities to award low-value subsidies without needing to comply with most of the subsidy control requirements. SPEIA allows up to £725,000 of assistance to be awarded within a rolling period of three fiscal years, subject to obtaining a written declaration confirming that the threshold has not been exceeded.
Streamlined Routes are a type of subsidy scheme made by the UK government for use by any UK public authority. The purpose of these routes is to enable public authorities to award routine, low-risk subsidies in specified areas.