Government Schemes

**NEW on 15 October** 

FURTHER UPDATE ON THE LOCALISED RESTRICTION SCHEME FROM DEPT OF FINANCE

• Small businesses (not exceeding £15k Net Annual Value) - £1,600
• Medium businesses (over £15k Net Annual Value and not exceeding £51k Net Annual Value) - £2,400
• Large businesses (over £51k Net Annual Value) - £3,200

• Cafes, pubs and restaurants that have been temporarily forced to close or limit their services to a takeaway service instead;
• Hotels and guest houses;
• Close contact services using commercial premises such as hairdressers and barbers, beauty salons, day spas, nail bars and tattoo parlours forced to close; and;
• Other businesses which, under the Health Protection Regulations are required to cease to carry on that business or to provide that service, include cinemas, museums, galleries, trampoline parks, inflatable parks, escape rooms, bowling alleys and ice rinks. 

Finance Minister Conor Murphy announces new Grant scheme for hospitality business in North West 

The scheme will see eligible businesses get up to £600 per week for the duration of the restrictions. Making the announcement, Minister Murphy said:  “The restrictions imposed in Derry & Strabane are necessary to preserve lives, but they have a very damaging impact on the hospitality sector. Today I am introducing a Grant Support Scheme to assist those businesses forced to temporarily limit their operations.

“Small businesses will receive £800 for every two weeks they are closed. Larger businesses will receive £1,200 for two weeks. This is above comparable schemes on these islands.”

The grant scheme is in addition to the 12 months rates holiday which continues until the end of March 2021.  Minister Murphy continued: “The Executive is doing its best to mitigate the economic impact of Covid-19.  However, the main support needed for businesses which cannot trade fully is wage subsidy.

“The end of the British Government’s furlough scheme at the end of this month is therefore deeply worrying and I again call for this scheme to be extended, particularly for businesses forced to close.”  

For full press release click here.

New NI Executive Covid19 restrictions in place 1st October 2020

Council services are currently under review to ensure they adhere.

• No indoor gatherings should take place where people from different households are mixed, with certain exemptions in place for: weddings, wedding receptions, funerals and post funeral gatherings (existing restrictions and strict social distancing requirements continue to apply); services of worship in places of worship; indoor sport for individual training only (e.g. no exercise classes); workplaces where working from home is not possible; educational settings; managed youth and childcare services.
• Hospitality venues can remain open for take-away, delivery and outdoor dining only. Wet pubs can serve customers outdoors only. Existing restrictions for outdoor settings will continue to apply. Hotels can only provide services to residents as per previous restrictions. A support package for affected venues will be brought forward.
• All museums, galleries and cultural attractions must remain closed and libraries can operate a call and collect service.
• Outdoor gatherings are permitted, up to a maximum of 15 people only. There cannot be gatherings of more than 15 people even with a risk assessment.
Sports training and sporting events are exempt but they must take place without any spectators.
• These restrictions will be in place for a time limited period of a minimum of two weeks, and will be reviewed weekly.

Government Winter Economy Plan Just Announced 24 Sept 2020:

The government is introducing a package of targeted measures in response to the current economic context that will enable businesses to protect jobs and manage their finances in the face of reduced or uncertain demand with:

• Support for businesses to bring people back to work and save jobs with a new Job Support Scheme and an extension to the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS)

• Help for the hospitality and tourism sectors through a continuation of the reduction in VAT

• Support for over 1 million businesses to relieve pressure on their finances and cashflow through an extension to the application period for four government-backed loans schemes, and changes to the terms of repayment for Bounce Back Loans (BBLS) and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans (CBILS)

• New payment schemes to ease the burden of paying deferred VAT and Self-Assessment tax liabilities.

• See below for specific support available for employment and business, further details on this can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/winter-economy-plan/winter-economy-plan

Further support for employment

The government’s aim through all of these schemes has been to prevent skills from fading, maintain strong employment relationships between workers and firms, and support the self-employed. The new schemes the government is introducing will reinforce that objective, while ensuring that businesses can adapt and evolve to the prolonged challenge of COVID-19. Further technical details of the schemes will be available on gov.uk.

• Job Support Scheme – To support viable employers who face lower demand due to COVID-19, and to keep their employees attached to the workforce, the government will be introducing a new Job Support Scheme from 1 November 2020. Employees will need to work a minimum of 33% of their usual hours. For every hour not worked the employer and the government will each pay one third of the employee’s usual pay, and the government contribution will be capped at £697.92 per month. Employees using the scheme will receive at least 77% of their pay, where the government contribution has not been capped. The employer will be reimbursed in arrears for the government contribution. The employee must not be on a redundancy notice. The scheme will run for six months from 1 November 2020 and is open to all employers with a UK bank account and a UK PAYE scheme. All Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) will be eligible; large businesses will be required to demonstrate that their business has been adversely affected by COVID-19, and the government expects that large employers will not be making capital distributions (such as dividends), while using the scheme.

• SEISS Grant Extension – The government recognises the continued impact that COVID-19 has had on the self-employed and has taken action to provide support. The SEISS Grant Extension provides critical support to the self-employed. The grant will be limited to self-employed individuals who are currently eligible for the SEISS and are actively continuing to trade but are facing reduced demand due to COVID-19. The scheme will last for 6 months, from November 2020 to April 2021.

The extension will be in the form of two taxable grants. The first grant will cover a three-month period from the start of November until the end of January. This initial grant will cover 20%of average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering 3 months’ worth of profits, and capped at £1,875 in total. The second grant will cover a three-month period from the start of February until the end of April. The government will review the level of the second grant and set this in due course.

Easing the burdens on business

Extending the temporary VAT reduced rate for hospitality and tourism – To continue supporting the cashflow and viability of over 150,000 UK businesses and to protect 2.4 million jobs the government is extending the temporary reduced rate of VAT (5%) from 12 January to 31 March 2021. This will continue to apply to supplies of food and non-alcoholic drinks from restaurants, pubs, bars, cafés and similar premises, supplies of accommodation and admission to attractions across the UK.

Extension of access to finance schemes – The government is extending the following temporary loan schemes, which have helped over a million businesses to date, to 30 November 2020 for new applications:

1. Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) 
2. Coronavirus Business Interuption Loan Scheme (CBILS) 
3. ​Coronavirus Large Business Interuption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) 
4. ​Future Fund 

Additional Support

•  CBILS loan extension – The government intends to allow CBILS lenders to extend the term of a loan up to ten years, providing additional flexibility for UK-based SMEs who may otherwise be unable to repay their loans.

• VAT deferral ‘New Payment Scheme’ – The government will give businesses which deferred VAT due in March to June 2020 the option to spread their payments over the financial year 2021-2022.

• Enhanced Time to Pay for Self-Assessment taxpayers - The government will give the self-employed and other taxpayers more time to pay taxes due in January 2021, building on the Self-Assessment deferral provided in July 2020.​

• COVID-19 Corporate Financing Facility which will remain open until 22nd March 2021.  Where a company has exhausted all other options, and is of strategic importance to the UK, the Govt may also provide bespoke financial support. 

• Pay as you Grow – The government will give all businesses that borrowed under the BBLS the option to repay their loan over a period of up to ten years. This will reduce their average monthly repayments on the loan by almost half. UK businesses will also have the option to move temporarily to interest-only payments for periods of up to six months (an option which they can use up to three times), or to pause their repayments entirely for up to six months (an option they can use once and only after having made six payments). These changes will provide greater flexibility to repay these loans over a longer period and in a way that better suits businesses’ individual circumstances.