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Latest Update: Monday 2 November
New National Restrictions from 5 November & Financial Support Available
From Thursday 5 November until Wednesday 2 December, the Government is taking the following action:
1. Requiring people to stay at home, except for specific purposes.
2. Preventing gathering with people you do not live with, except for specific purposes.
3. Closing certain businesses and venues.
Until Thursday 5 November, Stoke-on-Trent will remain on 'High' level alert and the relevant measures will continue to apply here. The key points impacting you and your business are outlined below.
STAY HOME - This means you must not leave or be outside of your home except for specific purposes. These include:
- for childcare or education, where this is not provided online
- for work purposes, where your place of work remains open and where you cannot work from home (including if your job involves working in other people’s homes)
- to exercise outdoors or visit an outdoor public place - with the people you live with, with your support bubble or, when on your own, with 1 person from another household (children under school age, as well as those dependent on round-the-clock care, such as those with severe disabilities, who are with their parents will not count towards the limit on two people meeting outside).
- for any medical concerns, reasons, appointments and emergencies, or to avoid or escape risk of injury or harm - such as domestic abuse
- shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which should be as infrequent as possible
- to visit members of your support bubble or provide care for vulnerable people, or as a volunteer
BUSINESSES & VENUES - To reduce social contact, the Government has ordered certain businesses and venues to close. These include:
- 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.
- Food shops, supermarkets, garden centres and certain other retailers providing essential goods and services can remain open. Essential retail should follow COVID-secure guidelines to protect customers, visitors and workers.
Non-essential retail can remain open for delivery to customers and click-and-collect.
Playgrounds can remain open.
Hospitality venues like restaurants, bars and pubs must close, but can still provide takeaway and delivery services. However, takeaway of alcohol will not be allowed.
Hotels, hostels and other accommodation should only open for those who have to travel for work purposes and for a limited number of other exemptions which will be set out in law.
A full list of the business closures will be published and set out in law.
Some venues will be allowed to remain open for specific exempt activities, like childcare and support groups. Support groups that are essential to deliver in person can continue with up to 15 participants where formally organised to provide mutual aid, therapy or any other form of support. This includes support to victims of crime, people in drug and alcohol recovery, new parents and guardians, people with long-term illnesses, people facing issues relating to their sexuality or gender, and those who have suffered bereavement.
A number of public services will also stay open and you will be able to leave home to visit them. These include:
the NHS and medical services like GPs. We are supporting the NHS to safely carry out urgent and non-urgent services and it is vital anyone who thinks they need any kind of medical care comes forward and seeks help.
- Jobcentre Plus sites
- Courts
- Civil Registrations Offices
GOING TO WORK - To help contain the virus, everyone who can work effectively from home must do so. Where people cannot do so (for instance people who work in critical national infrastructure, construction or manufacturing) they should continue to travel to work/attend their workplace. This is essential to keeping the country operating and supporting vital sectors and employers. Public sector employees working in essential services, including education settings, should continue to go into work . The risk of transmission can be substantially reduced if COVID-secure guidelines are followed closely. Extra consideration should be given to those people at higher risk.
TRAVEL - You should avoid travelling in or out of your local area, and you should look to reduce the number of journeys you make. However you can and should still travel for a number of reasons, including:
- travelling to work where this cannot be done from home
- travelling to education and for caring responsibilities
- hospital GP and other medical appointments or visits where you have had an accident or are concerned about your health
- visiting venues that are open, including essential retail
- exercise, if you need to make a short journey to do so
If you need to travel we encourage you to walk or cycle where possible, and to plan ahead and avoid busy times and routes on public transport. This will allow you to practise social distancing while you travel.
Overnight stays and holidays away from primary residences will not be allowed. This includes holidays abroad and in the UK. It also means you cannot stay in a second home, if you own one, or staying with anyone you do not live with or are in a support bubble with. There are specific exceptions, for example if you need to stay away from home (including in a second home) for work purposes, but this means people cannot travel overseas or within the UK, unless for work, education or other legally permitted reasons.
You must not travel if you are experiencing any coronavirus symptoms, are self-isolating as a result of coronavirus symptoms, are sharing a household or support bubble with somebody with symptoms, or have been told to self-isolate after being contacted by NHS Test and Trace.
If you need to use public transport - to travel to work for example - you should follow the safer travel guidance. This includes the rules on wearing face masks and advice on car sharing.
For more information on the full restrictions in place from 5 November, including:
- Staying safe outside of your home and social distancing
- Meeting with family and friends
- Weddings, civil partnerships, religious services and funerals
- Schools, colleges and universities
- Childcare and children's activities
- Protecting those at risk
- Visiting relatives in care homes
click here.
FURLOUGH SCHEME EXTENDED AND FURTHER ECONOMIC SUPPORT ANNOUNCED
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been extended for a month with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 and further economic support announced. In addition, business premises forced to close in England are to receive grants worth up to £3,000 per month under the Local Restrictions Support Grant. Also, £1.1bn is being given to Local Authorities, distributed on the basis of £20 per head, for one-off payments to enable them to support businesses more broadly.
JOB RETENTION SCHEME - Employers small or large, charitable or non-profit, are eligible for the extended Job Retention Scheme, which will continue for a further month. Businesses will have flexibility to bring furloughed employees back to work on a part time basis or furlough them full-time, and will only be asked to cover National Insurance and employer pension contributions which, for the average claim, accounts for just 5% of total employment costs. The Job Support Scheme, which was scheduled to come in on Sunday 1st November, has been postponed until the furlough scheme ends. Additional guidance will be set out shortly.
Who is eligible - Employers:
- All employers with a UK bank account and UK PAYE schemes can claim the grant. Neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously used the CJRS.
- The government expects that publicly funded organisations will not use the scheme, as has already been the case for CJRS, but partially publicly funded organisations may be eligible where their private revenues have been disrupted. All other eligibility requirements apply to these employers.
Who is eligible - Employees:
- To be eligible to be claimed for under this extension, employees must be on an employer’s PAYE payroll by 23:59 30th October 2020. This means a Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment for that employee to HMRC must have been made on or before 30th October 2020.
- *As under the current CJRS rules:
- Employees can be on any type of contract. Employers will be able to agree any working arrangements with employees.
- Employers can claim the grant for the hours their employees are not working, calculated by reference to their usual hours worked in a claim period. Such calculations will broadly follow the same methodology as currently under the CJRS.
- When claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours, employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of 7 consecutive calendar days.
- Employers will need to report hours worked and the usual hours an employee would be expected to work in a claim period.
- For worked hours, employees will be paid by their employer subject to their employment contract and employers will be responsible for paying the tax and NICs due on those amounts.
BUSINESS GRANTS - Businesses required to close in England due to local or national restrictions will be eligible for the following:
- For properties with a rateable value of £15k or under, grants to be £1,334 per month, or £667 per two weeks;
- For properties with a rateable value of between £15k-£51k grants to be £2,000 per month, or £1,000 per two weeks;
- For properties with a rateable value of £51k or over grants to be £3,000 per month, or £1,500 per two weeks.
For more information on financial support available, click here.
Previous Update: Friday 23 October
Job Support Scheme (JSS) (now postponed until furlough ends)
To support individuals and businesses to deal with the challenges created by COVID-19 during this winter, the government is providing additional support to help employers retain their employees through the Job Support Scheme (JSS).
Businesses that are operating but facing decreased demand can get support for wages through JSS Open. Those businesses that are legally required to close their premises as a direct result of coronavirus restrictions set by one or more of the four governments of the UK can get the support they need through JSS Closed.
An employer can claim the JSS Open and JSS Closed grant at the same time for different employees. An employer cannot claim for a single employee under both schemes at the same time.
JSS Open is for employers facing decreased demand.
Many employers can operate safely but continue to face reduced demand so they may need extra support over the winter to help keep their employees attached to their workforce. For these employers, JSS Open will give employers the option of keeping their employees in a job on shorter hours rather than making them redundant.
The employee will need to work a minimum of 20% of their usual hours and the employer will continue to pay them as normal for the hours worked. Alongside this, the employee will receive 66.67% of their normal pay for the hours not worked - this will be made up of contributions from the employer and from the government. The employer will pay 5% of reference salary for the hours not worked, up to a maximum of £125 per month, with the discretion to pay more than this if they wish. The government will pay the remainder of 61.67%, of reference salary for the hours not worked, up to a maximum of £1,541.75 per month. This will ensure employees continue to receive at least 73% of their normal wages, where they earn £3,125 a month or less.
JSS Closed is for employers who are legally required to close their premises.
Employers have been legally required to close their premises as a direct result of coronavirus restrictions set by one or more of the four governments of the UK. For these businesses, the Job Support Scheme, through JSS Closed, will help them through the period that they are directly affected by these restrictions by supporting the wage costs of employees who have been instructed to cease work in eligible (closed) premises.
Each employee who cannot work due to these restrictions will receive two thirds of their normal pay, paid by their employer and fully funded by the government, to a maximum of £2,083.33 per month, although their employer has discretion to pay more than this if they wish . This will help protect employee incomes, limit unemployment and retain employer-employee matches so that these premises are able to reopen as quickly as possible when circumstances allow.
Employees may also be entitled to additional financial support, including Universal Credit.
Click here for more information on the Job Support Scheme and eligibility criteria
Previous Updates
Working safely during COVID-19 in shops and branches
UK government has released a document to help employers, employees and the self-employed in the UK understand how to work safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, within shops and branch settings.
This document gives a practical framework to help those stated above think about what they need to do to continue, or restart, operations and will be useful for businesses as they develop new ways of working or to help prepare for the time when they are able to reopen. It sets out guidance on how to work safely, giving practical considerations of how this can be applied in the workplace and can be viewed here.
COVID-19 Recovery Strategy
UK Government have released a COVID-19 recovery strategy which describes the progress the UK has made to date in tackling the outbreak and sets out the plans for moving to the next phase of its response to the virus. The strategy sets out a cautious roadmap to easing existing measures in a safe and measured way, subject to successfully controlling the virus and being able to monitor and react to its spread. The roadmap will be kept constantly under review as the epidemic, and the world’s understanding of it, develops. The document can be viewed here. FAQs can be viewed here.
Apply for a Coronavirus Bounceback Loan
This new Government scheme will help small and medium-sized businesses affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) to apply for loans between £2,000 and £50,000. The government will guarantee 100% of the loan and there won’t be any fees or interest to pay for the first 12 months. Loan terms will be up to 6 years. No repayments will be due during the first 12 months. The government will work with lenders to agree a low rate of interest for the remaining period of the loan.
You can apply for a loan if your business: Is based in the UK; has been negatively affected by coronavirus; was not an ‘undertaking in difficulty’ on 31 December 2019. You cannot apply if your business is: A bank, insurer or reinsurer (but not insurance brokers); a public-sector body; a further-education establishment, if they are grant-funded; state-funded primary and secondary schools; or if you’re already claiming under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
If you’ve already received a loan of up to £50,000 under CBILS and would like to transfer it into the Bounce Back Loan scheme, you can arrange this with your lender until 4 November 2020. You can apply here.
COVID-19 Business Toolkit
Cross Rhythms City Radio (101.8FM / crossrhythms.co.uk/radio) has recorded and broadcast a series of podcasts, making up the ‘COVID-19 Business Toolkit’. Each podcast features interviews with specialists from Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce and covers topics that businesses may find informative, such as: Funding advice; job retention & self employed schemes; online mentoring; business crime support and more... The features are available to listen to on our website here.
Financial support for community groups & voluntary organisations
[Please note that the deadline for applications has now been passed]
Stoke-on-Trent City Council pledged £100,000 of financial support to community groups and voluntary organisations who are providing critical support to those impacted by coronavirus living in the city. The money will be available for community groups and charities to bid into to help them continue to support those who need it most during the pandemic. It will also help to ensure that those organisations that have seen usual funding or fundraising reduce are still able to access additional financial support.
There is no maximum limit for loan or grant applications although bids for more than £3,000 will require further evidence and be subject to additional scrutiny and ongoing monitoring. Some organisations that already receive city council funding will also be able to redirect unspent funds to support delivery of COVID-19 related support services. In addition, 44 council members are able to divert £1,700 of their ward budgets to support individuals or groups in their local area who are being impacted by COVID-19.
Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF)
Latest government guidance sets out details and eligibility criteria for the Small Business Grants Fund (SBGF) and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF).
Under the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) all eligible businesses in England in receipt of either Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) or Rural Rates Relief (RRR) in the business rates system will be eligible for a payment of £10,000.
Under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant (RHLG) eligible businesses in England in receipt of the Expanded Retail Discount (which covers retail, hospitality and leisure) with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will be eligible for a cash grants of £10,000 or £25,000 per property. Eligible businesses in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of up to and including £15,000 will receive a grant of £10,000. Eligible businesses in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of over £15,000 and less than £51,000 will receive a grant of £25,000. Businesses with a rateable value of £51,000 or over are not eligible for this scheme. Businesses which are not ratepayers in the business rates system are not included in this scheme.
Support for self-employed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will support self-employed individuals (including members of partnerships) who have lost income due to coronavirus (COVID-19). This scheme will allow you to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of your trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for the next 3 months. This may be extended if needed.
HMRC have just set up a help line specifically for the self employed and businesses who will be struggling now due to Coronavirus. The Coronavirus helpline (0300 456 3565) will give you advice on your tax and any benefits you can claim for. Also there's also an HMRC number (0800 0159 559) for anyone with any tax worries, whether it is that they can't pay, want to stop payments or just need something clarified regarding Personal Tax, VAT, PAYE or Corporation Tax.
Support for businesses through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, all UK employers will be able to access support to continue paying part of their employees’ salary for those employees that would otherwise have been laid off during this crisis. All UK businesses are eligible.
To access the scheme, you need to: Designate affected employees as ‘furloughed workers,’ and notify your employees of this change - changing the status of employees remains subject to existing employment law and, depending on the employment contract, may be subject to negotiation (https://www.gov.uk/government/
HMRC will reimburse 80% of furloughed workers wage costs, up to a cap of £2,500 per month. HMRC are working urgently to set up a system for reimbursement. Existing systems are not set up to facilitate payments to employers. If your business needs short term cash flow support, you may be eligible for a Coranavirus Business Interruption Loan - more information can be found here.
Support for businesses through deferring VAT and Income Tax payments
We will support businesses by deferring Valued Added Tax (VAT) payments for 3 months. If you’re self-employed, Income Tax payments due in July 2020 under the Self-Assessment system will be deferred to January 2021. For VAT, the deferral will apply from 20 March 2020 until 30 June 2020. All UK businesses are eligible.
This is an automatic offer with no applications required. Businesses will not need to make a VAT payment during this period. Taxpayers will be given until the end of the 2020 to 2021 tax year to pay any liabilities that have accumulated during the deferral period. VAT refunds and reclaims will be paid by the government as normal.
HMRC have also scaled up their Time to Pay offer to all firms and individuals who are in temporary financial distress as a result of Covid-19 and have outstanding tax liabilities.
Support for businesses that pay business rates
A business rates retail holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England will be introduced for the 2020 to 2021 tax year. Businesses that received the retail discount in the 2019 to 2020 tax year will be rebilled by their local authority as soon as possible. A £25,000 grant will be provided to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses operating from smaller premises, with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000. Any enquiries on eligibility for, or provision of, the reliefs should be directed to the relevant local authority. Information can be found here.
Support for businesses that pay little or no business rates
The government will provide additional funding for local authorities to support small businesses that already pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief (SBBR). This will provide a one-off grant of £10,000 to businesses currently eligible for SBRR (Small Business Rate Relief) or rural rate relief, to help meet their ongoing business costs. If your business is eligible for SBRR or rural rate relief, you will be contacted by your local authority – you do not need to apply. Information can be found here.
Latest information on the Small Business Grant Fund from Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
Crime prevention advice for empty commercial premises from Staffordshire Police
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