Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at yesterday’s daily press conference that measures for the self-employed will be unveiled by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak today.
Taking questions after giving thanks to the 405,000 people who have signed up to the NHS Volunteers scheme, Mr Johnson said the government had been given “unprecedented support” for businesses and employees of all kinds.
Discussing today’s announcements, Mr Johnson gave an explanation on why it has taken longer to come up with further support for the self-employed.
“The complexity of their working arrangements has meant it has been harder to come up with the right tailored programme for the self-employed,” he said.
Mr Johnson also reiterated the interventions outlined so far, saying: “Never in our history has the government put its arms around people in the way we are doing to help them get through this difficult time.”
BUSINESS SUPPORT PACKAGES: LATEST INFORMATION & UPDATES
• Extra protection for businesses with ban on evictions for commercial tenants who miss rent payments. UPDATED
• Financial assistance for employers unable to pay statutory redundancy payments.
• Coronovirus Job Retention Scheme
• Deferring VAT and Income Tax payments
•Statutory Sick Pay relief package for SMEs
• 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses in England
• Small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief
• Grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
• The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5million for SMEs through the British Business Bank: OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS
• A new lending facility from the Bank of England to help support liquidity among larger firms, helping them bridge coronavirus disruption to their cash flows through loans: OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS
• The HMRC Time To Pay Scheme
ADDITIONAL NEW GUIDANCE RELEASED YESTERDAY
Business Premises closures:
Guidance on the closure of all retailers that sell non-essential goods and other non-essential premises, as part of further social distancing measures has been updated to include additional details to the list of businesses and premises that must remain closed. Guidance has also been added on work carried out in people’s homes. The guidance is available here.
Companies House accounts filing extension
Companies House have announced that businesses will be given an additional 3 months to file accounts to help companies avoid penalties as they deal with the impacts of COVID-19. Full guidance on applying for an extension can be found here
COVID-19 advice for accommodation providers
Guidance and advice for those providing hotel and other accommodation in the UK has been published for the first time here.
DIT support for UK businesses trading internationally
The advice for UK businesses that export or deliver goods and services abroad and have been impacted by the spread of COVID-19 has been updated. You can find it here
Employers do not have to report gender pay gaps
Enforcement of the gender pay gap reporting deadlines are suspended for this reporting year (2019/20) due to the Coronavirus outbreak. The decision means there will be no expectation on employers to report their data.
Extension of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) arrangements
BIDs will be able to extend the maximum duration of their BID arrangements until 31 March 2021 by delaying BID ballots due to take place this year. This enables BIDs, and the local authorities who administer the ballot process, to concentrate on responding to the current emergency.