HOSPITALITY businesses in Hampshire whose Christmas season was wrecked by the Omicron crisis received millions of pounds less than the government promised in support.

The government allocated £635million to councils to hand out in grants of up to £6,000 to individual hospitality, leisure and accommodation businesses.

But analysis of government data by real estate adviser Altus Group found that only £305m had been distributed as of February 27, when there were three weeks to go before the cut-off for applications.

Robert Hayton, UK president of Altus Group, called it a “postcode lottery”.

“These types of businesses saw one of their most valuable trading periods wiped out and simply didn’t get the support they needed quickly enough. I just hope councils rallied at the end,” he said.

Altus found Southampton City Council had distributed £955,375, or 44.23 per cent of its allocated £2.16m, as of February 27.

A council spokesperson said: "We supported eligible businesses in line with the terms, set by government, of the Omicron grants and processed 395 payments, paying out a total of £1,469,732."

It added: "Work was undertaken to promote the grant and prompt applications from businesses across the city. It was found that demand for grant support was less than during periods of lockdown. For multiple reasons, it is understood that many businesses were keen not to access further grant funding whilst trading."

Eastleigh Borough Council had handed out £222,006, 29.13 per cent, of its £726,039 as of February 27.

Test Valley Borough Council had awarded £660,024, or 55.5 per cent, of its £1.18m, according to Altus, but said its final figure was 65 per cent.

Cllr Maureen Flood, its cabinet member for finance, said: "Even before the allocation of £1.18m was given, we publicised the scheme through the media and using as many contacts as possible to those potentially eligible for grants.

“A total of £769,000 has been paid out to those who successfully applied. Any money left over and not allocated to businesses will then be returned to government.”

New Forest District Council handed out £1.61m, 53.88 per cent of its allocated £2.88m.

A spokesperson said the final amount was £2.49m, handed out to 755 businesses, on top of the £647,590 given under a separate, discretionary fund.

A spokesperson said: "The scheme came with prescriptive eligibility criteria set out by the UK government, and payments have been made to all eligible businesses who applied through our application process."

Fareham Borough Council had spent £486,697, 68.74 per cent of its allocated £708,039 as of February 27. It eventually paid out £547,367, or 69.6 per cent of its funding.

Gosport Borough Council had awarded £336,690, 66.8 per cent of its £504,036.

A spokesperson said: “The council promoted this grant widely and pro-actively, including by directly phoning and emailing firms that would be likely to qualify. By March 31, we had paid out £390,693.”

Winchester City Council, which was allocated £1.7m, had not submitted details of its grants as of February 27. 

It said in a statement that £1.36m had been paid in response to 374 eligible applications - 80 per cent of the amount allocated.

“Winchester City Council consistently followed the government guidance on any requests for funding and paid out on all applications which we received and were eligible," it said.

"The quoted £1.7m allocation from government is an estimate of what might have been required, if everyone who may have been eligible applied for the grant.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: “We have backed businesses throughout the pandemic with an unprecedented package of support worth around £400billion, including £22bn in government grants paid to firms through local councils.

“We have worked with councils to have them deliver grants as quickly as possible and we continue to stand behind businesses.”