Job support scheme & winter economy plan – Update Sept 25/09/20

Yesterday the Chancellor outlined further support for small businesses in the upcoming winter months
The below includes a summary of the following announcements:
  • New Job Support Scheme from 1st November
  • Extension of SEISS
  • Tax cuts and deferrals
  • Flexibilities to help pay back loans

View the full Winter Economy Plan here 

NEW: Job Support Scheme

  • A new Job Support Scheme will be introduced from 1st November to protect viable jobs in businesses who are facing lower demand over the winter months.
  • The government will contribute towards the hours not worked by the employee.
  • The level of grant will be calculated based on employee’s usual salary, capped at £697.92 per month

It is designed to sit alongside the Jobs Retention Bonus so businesses can benefit from both schemes in order to help protect jobs.

EXTENDED: Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Grant Extension

  • 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 extension will provide two grants to last for six months from November 2020 to April 2021. Grants will be paid in two lump sum instalments each covering a three-month period.
  • The first grant will be worth 20% of average monthly profits and will capped at £1,875 in total.

Tax cuts and deferrals

  • An extension to the temporary 15% VAT cut for the tourism & hospitality sectors until March 2021.
  • In addition, business who deferred their VAT bills will be given more breathing space through the New Payment Scheme, this allows for 11 smaller interest-free payments rather than paying a lump sum in March 2021.
  • 12 month extension for the 11 million self-assessment taxpayers on the “Time to Pay” self-service facility, meaning payments deferred and due in January 2021, will now not need to be paid until January 2022.

Flexibility to pay back loans

  • Those who took a Bounce Back Loan will have flexibility to pay back through a new Pay as You Grow flexible repayment system.
  • This includes extending the length of the loan from six years to ten, which will cut monthly repayments by nearly half.
  • Interest-only periods of up to six months and payment holidays will also be available to businesses.
  • In addition, the Chancellor also announced he would be extending applications for the government’s coronavirus loan schemes until the end of November.

NHS QR code posters

Businesses are now required from yesterday (Thursday 24 September) by law to display the official NHS QR code posters so people can check-in at different premises with the app.

Further app resources can be found at: https://bit.ly/2RRFL94 

Creating a QR Code is available at:  http://bit.ly/CV19QR-East

General consumer facing assets are available at:  http://bit.ly/TaTAPP-East ​​​​​​