Rishi Sunak confirms increased levels of support
Date published:
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced new measures today following increased pressure from local authorities and business organisations for greater levels of support to areas in Tier 2 lockdown. Below we outline the much welcome new measures available to businesses and the self-employed.
Job Support Scheme improvements
The Job Support Scheme, replacement for the Furlough Scheme, is set to come into effect on 1 November. The original scheme would have seen employers paying a third of their employees wages for hours not worked and required employees to work at minimum of 33% of their normal working hours. The government contribution would have been paying employees 33% of their hours not worked to top up payment.
The updated Job Support Scheme now consists of:
– Employees now required to work only a minimum of 20% of their hours down from 33% – allowing staff to work one day a week if needed
– Employer contribution for hours not worked is now 5%, down from 33%
– Government contribution is now up to 62% of employee wages for hours not worked, taking much more of the burden from employers
This means that if someone was being paid £587 for their unworked hours, the government would be contributing £543 and their employer only £44.
Employers will continue to receive the £1,000 Job Retention Bonus. The Job Support Scheme for businesses legally required to close remains unchanged which is:
Businesses will receive grants to pay the wages of staff who cannot work – protecting jobs and enabling businesses to reopen quickly once restrictions are lifted. The Government will support eligible businesses by paying two thirds of each employees’ salary (or 67%), up to a maximum of £2,100 a month.
Increased grants for the self-employed
The announcement increases the amount of profits covered by the two forthcoming self-employed grants from 20 per cent to 40 per cent, meaning the maximum grant will increase from £1,875 to £3,750.
This is a potential further £3.1 billion of support to the self-employed through November to January alone, with a further grant to follow covering February to April.
New business grants for businesses affected by “High” level lockdown restrictions
Increased pressure sees the Chancellor announce more support for businesses most affected by “High” Tier 2 restrictions. The extra support sees Cash grants of up to £2,100 per month primarily for businesses in the hospitality, accommodation and leisure sector who may be adversely impacted by the restrictions in high-alert level areas. These grants will be distributed by local authorities and we will update with more detail once these have been released for further clarity.
These grants will be available retrospectively for areas who have already been subject to restrictions, and come on top of higher levels of additional business support for Local Authorities moving into Tier 3.
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