Five Isle of Wight businesses have been told they must pay back £15,000 each after an Isle of Wight Council error.
The local authority says it incorrectly gave £25,000 to five businesses under the retail, hospitality and leisure scheme.
The companies - who had applied for coronavirus grant funding - were, in fact, only eligible for £10,000.
An spokesperson for the Isle of Wight Council said repayment options are being discussed:
“We have written to those businesses affected to apologise and request return of overpaid amounts and whilst currently we haven’t received further recovery guidance, it is not the intention to cause hardship and we will work with those businesses to come to a mutually agreed payment arrangement.
“The error occurred where the rateable value (rv) of each of the business involved is exactly £15,000. The Authority were receiving several versions of government guidance during March and April on the rv parameters for the schemes 2A and 2B and in relation to the business rates expanded retail relief.
“In relation to the grants, Scheme 2A covers rv’s of anything up to and including £15,000 whereas rv’s of £15,001 and above qualify for scheme 2B and the higher payment of £25,000
“A reconciliation of funding and payments is required as local authorities administered payment of the grants and we were advised by Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy that this may be ongoing due to the post payment assurance process check.”
More than 4,000 grants have been processed and paid on behalf of central government, according to the Isle of Wight Council.
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