The Prime Minister yesterday announced a new three tier system of COVID-19 restrictions – Tier 1- Medium; Tier 2 – High and Tier 3 – Very High.
- Covering most of England, this Tier consists of the ‘rule of six’ and an ongoing 10pm curfew for hospitality businesses
- Covers most areas currently under ‘local restrictions’ – no household mixing indoors and the rule of 6 applied to outdoor settings
- No social mixing indoors or outdoors (including private gardens); the closure of pubs and bars
At the time of writing (12th October); Shropshire was in Tier 1 – the Medium Tier; meaning no change to the current national restrictions: ie the rule of 6 and the 10pm hospitality curfew. Worryingly though, surrounding areas of our County (East and West Cheshire) have been moved to Tier 2 (High) and Wrexham already has stringent local restrictions in place..
Whilst it’s currently good news about the spread of the virus in Shropshire, it’s worth bookmarking ‘Check the local COVID alert’ government webpage to keep abreast of the changes. But of course, we still have national restrictions which are impacting on business in Shropshire.. so
What about local help in Shropshire now?
A new £630,000 grant scheme to help small businesses across the Marches which have suffered as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic was launched last week. Grants of between £1,000 and £3,000 are available through the Marches Small Business Recovery Grant, which will help both tourism businesses and those in the wider economy.
Main points of this grant scheme:
- Only small businesses in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin (and Herefordshire) with up to ten full-time employees and who can demonstrate a negative impact due to the coronavirus crisis are able to apply.
- Grants are available for projects running between November and January
- Costs can cover specialist advice including HR, Accountancy, Legal, Financial, Health and Safety, IT/digital and sector related consultancy
- And/or equipment to address immediate need in response to COVID-19
It is anticipated there will high demand for the scheme, which will be run on a first-come first-served basis from its launch at 9am on October 14th. More details are on the dedicated web site pages
This is on top of the various schemes including VAT deferral, bounce back loans etc.
What about staff costs if Shropshire moves to Tier 2 or 3?
If the County is moved to a higher tier AND your business is ‘legally’ required to close, then the expanded ‘Job Support Scheme’ will come into effect. As always, the guidance issued will be underpinned by HMRC details to be provided ‘in due course’; but here’s what we do know:
- It takes effect from the 1st November and will be available for 6 months; with a review in January 2021
- Businesses ‘legally’ required to close before the 1st November have (for the most part) been able to avail of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – ‘Furlough’
- To be eligible, employees must be employed and an Real Time Information (RTI) submission notifying payment in respect of that employee to HMRC must have been made on or before 23 September. The claim service will be available from early December.
- Under the scheme, employees will need to be furloughed for a minimum of seven consecutive days at any given time and the payments to employers will be made monthly in arrears.
- Payments will be 2/3rds of an employees salary up to a maximum of £2,100 per month
- Employers will have to pay National insurance and pension contributions, but will not have to contribute to wages
- The government is now making this scheme more generous so that businesses receive up to £3,000 per month, rather than up to £1,500 per three weeks, and they are eligible for payment sooner, after only two weeks of closure; rather than three.
- And interestingly – using this scheme doesn’t make you ineligible to receive the £1000 bonus for bringing someone back from Furlough (that is due in January)…
Local Restrictions Support Grants will also come into force, but these are based on rateable values. Local Councils are being given discretion to consider funding businesses that don’t pay business rates but are required to close.
