“Remember, remember the fifth of November for gunpowder, treason and plot!”
They say the last man to enter Parliament with honourable intentions was Guy Fawkes, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer has pulled some helpful Coronavirus Government Support out of the bag again!
If you’re a small business owner, employee or homeowner, you might be saying:
“Remember, remember the fifth of November for Furlough, Mortgage Holidays and Business Grants.”
Welcome to the latest in our blogs detailing information on Coronavirus Government Support.
Today, as we all hunker down for Lockdown 2: The Revenge for winter, we’ll be covering the Job Retention Scheme (furlough), Mortgage Holidays and Business Grants.
Job Retention Scheme (Updated 5th November 2020)
Further to an announcement by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak has provided more Coronvirus Government Support. As of 5th November 2020, the government’s Furlough Scheme has been extended until March 2021. That said, the scheme will be reviewed in January 2020. As soon as we know more, we’ll let you know because, at the moment, it is unclear whether the percentages will change like they did last time.
While it’s great news for many that furloughing has been extended, what is not clear from Coronavirus Government Support is whether the £1,000 offered for those businesses that used Furlough (and didn’t make the employees redundant which was previously offered) is to be paid at the end of January 2021.
As for further Coronavirus Government Support information, we will update as soon as we can…
Update from 31st October 2020
Further to the announcement of a second lockdown by the Prime Minister on Saturday 31st October 2020, the Job Retention Scheme (JRS) or Furlough has been extended to support the national lockdown which starts on the 5th November 2020.
The Coronavirus Government Support Furlough extension will be as follows:
- Employees will receive 80% of their current salary for hours not worked up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
- Employers will have to contribute to the cost of National Insurance and Employer Pension which is roughly 5% so what was being paid in August.
- Flexible furlough will still be allowed as before.
- As long as you had the employee on payroll at the end of October on your RTI you can furlough them.
- If you have made someone redundant at the end of October then please get in touch.
- The Job Support Scheme which was due to commence on the 1st November 2020 will be postponed until the furlough scheme ends.
Mortgage Holidays
There’s some good news for homeowners with a mortgage.
- Mortgage Holidays will be extended to a total of 6 months without this being recorded on your credit file.
- Further information will be announced on Monday by the FCA.
Business Grants
For those businesses that are required to close in England due to the 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.
Please see the www.gov.uk for the full details.
We will update as more information becomes available.
Need Some Help?
Whether you need help and advice surrounding Coronavirus Government Support or anything else HR-related, we are here to support you and your business during these most challenging of times.
As always, we are at the end of phone, email, or teams if you need us.
In the meantime, use the Coronavirus Government Support wisely, wrap up warm and pop an extra marshmallow in your hot chocolate! It’s going to be a long winter, but the good news is we’ll see y’all again soon.