COVID-19 – Lockdown 2 – Government Support

Jobs Retention Scheme – Furlough

This scheme will now continue – seemingly until the Lockdown 2 is over as no end date has been announced.

• Eligibility:

• • All employers inc charities with a UK bank account and UK PAYE scheme.
  • The employee must be on the payroll on or before 30^th October 2020.  But to prove this an RTI submission must have been made by 30^th October.
  • The employer DOESN’T have had to previously claimed under the furlough scheme.

• How it works (effectively back to the August version of the scheme):

• • Starts from 1^st November 2020.
  • HMRC will pay 80% of wages up to a maximum of £2,500.
  • Company will have to pay employers NI and pension contributions.
  • Company can top up the wages if they wish.
  • When claiming for furloughed hours, employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of 7 consecutive calendar days.
  • Make one claim per payrun.
  • Apprentices can be furloughed and training can continue under furlough.
  • Employees cannot do any work for the company whilst on furlough.
  • Employees can work elsewhere without affecting their furlough entitlement even if the hours they are working overlap those of their furloughed employment.

Flexible furlough is allowed ie the company pays for all hours worked and HMRC will pay 80% of the hours not worked.  Eg many locked down businesses will pay staff from 1^st to 4^th November and then claim full furlough from 5^th November.

Jobs Support Scheme – Open and Closed

These schemes will now start when the Job Retention Scheme ends.  Details are part of our newsletter dated 24^th October 2020 – http://www.chariothouse.co.uk/newsletters/chancellors-latest-statement/

Self Employed Income Support Scheme

Today Rishi Sunak announced SEISS grant of 80% for November 2020  – this will be the same as the initial grant with a maximum of £2,500 pm.  To summarise:

• Quarter 1^st November 2020 to 31^st January 2021.

• • During Lockdown 2 – 80% of average monthly profit – £2,500 pm maximum
  • After Lockdown 2  – 40% of average monthly profit – £1,250 pm maximum

• Not sure when this will be paid.
• Quarter 1^st February 2021 to 30^th April 2021 still to be announced later.
• Eligibility see our newsletter dated 24^th October 2020 – http://www.chariothouse.co.uk/newsletters/chancellors-latest-statement/.
• We will update as soon as new rules are announced in detail.

 

Local Restrictions Support Grant

Grants for businesses that have to close during Lockdown 2 will operate in similar way to the original business rates based grants.

• Eligibility:

• • Required to close due local and national restrictions.
  • In England only.

• How it works:

• • Rateable value under £15,000 – grant of £1,334 pm
  • Rateable value £15,001 to £51,000 – grant of £2,000pm
  • Rateable value over £51,000 – grant of £3,000 pm

• Businesses that must close are:

• • all non-essential retail, including, but not limited to clothing and electronics stores, vehicle showrooms, travel agents, betting shops, auction houses, tailors, car washes, tobacco and vape shops.
  • indoor and outdoor leisure facilities such as bowling alleys, leisure centres and gyms, sports facilities including swimming pools, golf courses and driving ranges, dance studios, stables and riding centres, soft play facilities, climbing walls and climbing centres, archery and shooting ranges, water and theme parks.
  • entertainment venues such as theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums and galleries, casinos, adult gaming centres and arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, concert halls, zoos and other animal attractions, botanical gardens
  • personal care facilities such as hair, beauty and nail salons, tattoo parlours, spas, massage parlours, body and skin piercing services, non-medical acupuncture, and tanning salons.

• Restaurants and bars can remain open for non-alcoholic deliveries only. So not sure where that places them in terms of the grant – we will update you on this when government publishes in more detail.

Other initiatives

Mortgage deferral

• Borrowers who have been impacted by Covid 19 and have not taken the full payment holiday of 6 months will be able to continue up to the 6 months or start from now if they haven’t taken any holiday.
• The original scheme included landlords so we guess this is still the case.

Business Support grants

• £1.1bn is to be given to local authorities to enable them to give grants to support local business.
• No further details have been published.