5th November 2020
As you may have heard announced this afternoon, the Chancellor has extended the support available to businesses through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (furlough scheme) until the end of March 2021, along with various changes to other support mechanisms.
You can download a Treasury factsheet here outlining today’s announcements, and we have summarised the key changes as follows:
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
- Extended until end March 2021, with a policy review in January to assess the level of employer contribution required.
- Eligible employees will receive 80% of their salary (up to £2.500 per month) for hours not worked, with no employer contribution to wages for hours not worked.
- Employers will be asked to cover National Insurance and pension contributions for hours not worked.
- Neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously claimed / been claimed for under the existing scheme. Employees on PAYE payroll on 30 October 2020 can be claimed for.
- Employees on payroll on 23 September 2020, who were made redundant or stopped working afterwards, can be re-employed and claimed for.
Job Support Scheme
- Postponed until further notice.
Job Retention Bonus
- This will not be paid in February as originally announced – UK Government will redeploy a retention incentive at an appropriate time.
Self-Employment Income Support Scheme
- The overall level of grant available will cover 80% of trading profits from November to January (to a cap of £7,500) and the window for claiming will open sooner than planned.
- We will circulate a separate email with further details of this as details are made available.
Guarantee Loan Schemes
- Bounce Back Loan, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan, Future Fund and Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme application deadlines are extended to the end of January 2021.
- Businesses who have borrowed less than the maximum available to them through the Bounce Back Loan scheme will be able to top up their existing loan.
We have linked throughout this document to the relevant GOV.UK pages for the support schemes mentioned, although note that much of the guidance has yet to be updated. As we are made aware that guidance is updated and schemes are opened to new claims, we will let you know.
As ever, you can find all the latest information we have on the COVID-19 Support Updates section of the Chamber website.
