Ask the NHBF | What you need to know about Government Financial Support Packages

Business Grants

Businesses required to close in England due to 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.

Businesses should visit their local council website for details on how to apply – the details of eligibility and how to find your local council are here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-youre-eligible-for-the-coronavirus-local-restrictions-support-grant

£1.1bn is also being distributed across the Local Authorities, for one-off payments to enable them to support businesses more broadly.

Extension of furlough

·         The Chancellor has today confirmed that the government’s Job Retention (furlough) Scheme will be extended until the end of March 2021 covering 80% of wages with businesses only having to pay NI and pension contributions.

·         Employers small or large, charitable or non-profit, are eligible for the extended Job Retention Scheme, which will continue.

·         Businesses will have flexibility to bring furloughed employees back to work on a part time basis or furlough them full-time, and will only be asked to cover NI and employer pension contributions.

·         The Job Support Scheme, which was scheduled to come in on Sunday 1st November, has been postponed until the furlough scheme ends.

·         Furlough amount will be 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 (so based on what they’re working right now not what they were earning pre COVID)

SEISS

·         The Self-Employed Income Support Scheme will also be extended to cover 80% of profits for the period November – January up to £7,500. 

·         The next grant will also be paid faster, with the claims window opening on 30 November rather than 14 December.

Loans

·         Businesses will be able to access additional support as deadlines for applications for government-backed loan schemes and the Future Fund have been further extended until 31 January 2021.

·         Firms can ‘top up’ existing Bounce Back Loans should they need additional finance

Whilst NHBF welcomes the new support package it is still lobbying for:

• A temporary reduction in VAT to 5%, similar to that offered to the hospitality sector, would be hugely beneficial in providing additional cash flow during these difficult times to businesses that pre-COVID were extremely lucrative and economically buoyant.
• With another month of potential earnings lost due to the national lockdown, and the next quarter’s rent due in on 26 December, extending the current eviction protection for businesses, due to end on 31 December, would to save business owners from avoidable stress and worry over the Christmas period.
• An extension of the 100% business rate relief for ‘non-essential’ SMEs to help businesses most impacted by lockdown restrictions recover into the next financial year. The current rates relief has been an absolute lifeline for many during this pandemic, and whilst I appreciate the 12-month period originally set at the beginning of the crisis anticipated that the country would be recovering economically by then, it is clear that this will not be the case for those mandated to close for large parts of the year.

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