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Northern Ireland taxi drivers can expect second £1,500 support grant to open mid-February
Over 4,200 payments each worth £1,500 have been made to struggling taxi drivers ahead of this month's second support grant offering, says Northern Ireland’s Minister for Infrastructure.
The payments formed the first part of a national coronavirus support scheme for cab drivers which opened on 13 November 2020. The taxi driver financial assistance scheme was open for two weeks and closed on 27 November.
The scheme provided financial support for overheads that are incurred by taxi drivers and is in addition to other financial support such as that which is provided through the self-employment income support scheme.
Nichola Mallon, Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister, said: “Payments began issuing within one week of the scheme closing, and, by 15 January, over 4,100 drivers had received the £1,500 grant, which equates to almost 90% of the valid applications that were received.
“Rejection letters were issued to the remaining unsuccessful applicants on the same day. However, some of those applicants responded to the letter and have since provided the necessary information that is required to successfully process their applications to payment.
“Staff continue to work with a small number of applicants this week to successfully process their applications.
“To date, that exercise has increased the number of payments that have been made to over 4,200, which means that over 92% of applicants have now received the £1,500 payment. The remaining 370 applicants who were unsuccessful may be eligible for assistance under the next scheme, which is due to launch this month.”
Last month the Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister received support for plans to provide a further financial assistance scheme to the taxi industry worth an additional £1,500 to each eligible driver.
The second scheme will provide financial assistance to taxi drivers whose insurance did not cover the full six month period of the existing scheme and will provide further assistance for all drivers from 1 October until the end of this financial year.
Controversially, the first grant was made dependent on the drivers' expenses incurred during the period 22 March 2020 up to 30 September 2020. This meant drivers who cancelled or downgraded their taxi vehicle insurance to save on costs during the pandemic missed out on the first grant.
Whilst replying to questions on the topic, Mallon said: “We hope to launch the new scheme by the middle of February. As I said in a previous response, I always think that it is right and proper that we as Ministers reflect on our schemes and the learning from that.
“I accept that it was frustrating for applicants because there was no dedicated telephone line, for example, to ring up and get an update on their application. During the first scheme, all dedicated resources were focused on processing the thousands of applications received as a matter of priority, and applicants were advised to send queries to a dedicated email address.
“This time around, I am focused, and I have made it clear that I want to see us doing better. While not all COVID-related support schemes have provided a dedicated phone contact, I have asked my officials to provide a telephone contact for the next taxi driver financial assistance scheme so that we can get information quickly to all applicants.”
