Latest government support update 05 November 2020

As of Thursday 05 November the UK has commenced the second lockdown in an effort to curb the rise in cases of coronavirus.

More government support announced

This virus has stumped many business’ and left many of us wondering how we are going to pay the next bill and meet the next deadline.

The latest measures mean that all non-essential businesses have had to adapt or even close when they were only just climbing back onto their feet.

Read below for the facts on the support you may be eligible for.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)

With the Job Retention Bonus being postponed Rishi Sunak announced on 05/11/2020 that he will extend the furlough scheme that was set to end in October until the end of March in his bid to protect millions of jobs across all nations.

Employees will receive 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month. Employers will be asked to cover National Insurance and employer pension contributions for hours not worked.

Employees who were on the payroll on 30 October 2020 can be claimed for if the employer has made a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020. Employers will be able to use the scheme for any amount of time or shift pattern furloughing on either a full or part-time basis. Employees can be on any type of contract.

Employers do not need to have used the CJRS previously and can claim whether their businesses are open or closed. For employees that have been furloughed before employers must use the same calculations as before and for employees that were not claimed for previously employers must use the alternative calculations of reference pay and usual hours.

Employers must claim for a minimum period of 7 consecutive calendar days, they must report actual hours worked and the usual hours an employee would be expected to work and for hours worked employers should pay their staff as per their contracts of employment.

Employers can claim from 8am on Wednesday 11 November 2020 and you must claim by the 14^th of the following month for a period e.g. claim by 14^th December for November. Grants are to be paid 6 days after the claim. This scheme will be reviewed in January to review whether employers will be asked to increase contributions.

For more information, please see the latest government publications

Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS)

The next self-employed income support grant is set to increase from 55% of profits to 80% of average profits with a maximum of £7,500.

This grant will cover the period from November 2020 to January 2021 and there will then be a further grant released to cover the period from February 2021 to April 2021 but guidance on the level of support has not yet been released.

You can claim these grants if you have been eligible for the previous grants (even if you have not claimed them) and you declare that you intend to continue to trade and either are still trading but at a reduced amount due to COVID-19 restrictions or have been forced to temporarily cease trading due to COVID-19 restriction.

For more information, please see the latest government grant schemes.

Further support

The government has also announced the following:

Cash grants of up to £3,000 per month will be available to businesses which are closed.
Local authorities are set to receive £1.1 billion to be distributed at £20 per head for one-off payments to help them support businesses.
A top-up to Bounce Back loans, and a planned extension of the existing government-backed loan schemes and Future Fund to the end of January 2021.
Mortgage holidays will be extended.
Councils will receive £500 million of funding to support the local public health response.

For more information, please see the latest in further government support.

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Latest Government Support Update – 11 November 2020

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The latest measures mean that all non-essential businesses have had to adapt or even close when they were only just climbing back onto their feet.