Chancellor reveals £750m funding to support charities’ ‘unsung heroes’ in the front line against COVID-19
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced unprecedented financial support for the hard-hit charity sector at today’s Downing Street press conference.
He pledged £750 million funding for charities, of which £370 million will be ring-fenced for small local charities supporting vulnerable people; £360 million would go to charities providing essential services and supporting vulnerable people, including up to £200 million to hospices with the rest going to organisations such as CAB, St John Ambulance and those supporting vulnerable children, victims of domestic abuse and disabled people.
He also promised that the government will match ‘pound for pound’ donations made to the National Emergencies Trust as part of the BBC’s Big Night In fundraiser later this month, with a minimum pledge of £20 million.
Mr Sunak said that while many of the 170,000 charities in the UK could benefit from some of the existing Business Support schemes, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, others were in the front line in the battle against COVID-19 and the government would step in to ensure their work continued, despite the current fall-off in their funding.
“We cannot promise to match the revenue charities have lost pound for pound,” he said. “But some charities are in the front line and provide critical support to vulnerable people in our community. For them to ‘shut up shop’ would be to contravene their very purpose. Those charities are needed more than ever now and are facing a significant loss in revenue.
“At this time, when many are hurting, tired and confined, we need the gentleness of charities in our lives. They give us hope, they make us stronger, and remind us we depend on each other.”
COVID-19 WILL have a significant impact on the economy
On a day when it was revealed that more than nine million workers are expected to be furloughed under the government’s job retention scheme (JRS), the Chancellor admitted there was no doubt COVID-19 would have a significant impact on the economy, despite the government’s unprecedented financial interventions.
Asked whether UK unemployment will become as bad as places like Norway, where the jobless rate is above 10% because of the coronavirus outbreak, he replied: “I will be absolutely honest, this will have a significant impact on the economy and not in an abstract way – on people’s jobs and livelihoods.”
However, he said the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme, combined with other government measures, would “significantly help mitigate some of the impact”.
Mr Sunak added: “If we weren’t doing all the things we are doing, it would certainly be worse. We are doing the right things. I can’t say there won’t be hardship ahead, there will be… but everyone has a role to play and I am confident we will get through it.”
Responding to further questions, he added that the Business Support schemes had been designed to prevent fraud and that the government would be cracking down on any abuse.
He said the schemes, despite being designed ‘at pace’, had been a balance between ensuring they were simple and accessible while protecting the taxpayer. Mr Sunak said that this had influenced some of the decisions made, such as the February 28th ‘cut-off’ date for payroll and this had unfortunately meant “some people have fallen through the cracks”.
And he added that while he was confident the schemes had been designed to minimise the risk of fraud or surplus claims, there would be robust scrutiny and auditing.
New £1.3m emergency fund to support tourism industry
Earlier in the day, Tourism Minister Nigel Huddleston launched a new emergency fund to support Destination Management Organisations in England at risk of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The funding, which is available to any at-risk DMO in England which usually receives at least 50% of its income from commercial sources, will be used to cover operating costs and the cost of employees that cannot be furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme because they provide crucial business support services.
Under the scheme, DMOs will be able to receive up to £2,500 per month for two members of non-furloughed staff who provide crucial business support services and up to £5,000 to cover operating costs. Click here to find out more.
Additional new guidance on social distancing in the workplace
To support businesses that remain open during this period in England, the government has published additional guidance to assist employers, businesses and their staff in staying open safely during coronavirus (COVID-19) – click here to view. For specific settings please refer to sector specific guidance, available here. Guidance has been published for:
- Shops running a pick-up or delivery service – click here
- Tradespeople and working in people’s homes – click here
- Construction – click here
- Manufacturing and processing businesses – click here
- Retail – click here
- Logistics businesses – click here
- Outdoor businesses – click here
- Farming: visiting farms for animal health and welfare – click here
- Fishing or other short-term offshore work – click here
- Cargo-shipping or other long-term offshore work – click here
- Transport businesses – click here
- Waste management businesses – click here
These guidelines are not intended to be comprehensive or to represent every business’s situation, but are illustrative examples. Businesses should also look at the advice being published by trade associations and similar groups on how to apply government guidance in their sector. Click here to read the general guidance for employers and businesses on coronavirus.
Transport and travel guidance
A new hub on gov.uk (click here to view) brings together information for people using transport or working in the transport sector during the Coronavirus outbreak. This includes information on:
- Using public transport – click here
- Driving private vehicles – cars, vans, motorbikes – click here
- Bus and lorry drivers – click here
- Freight, bus and road transport businesses – click here
- Transport workers – click here
- Maritime and shipping – click here
- Aviation and flying – click here
- Overseas travel – click here
Upcoming webinars
UK Government’s Business Support Website has a list of upcoming webinar events from Government and non-government partners. You can find more information here.
HMRC are delivering a programme of webinars on measures to support employers, employees and the self-employed through this period of disruption caused by COVID-19. You can watch a video of the recorded webinar on the HMRC YouTube channel Coronavirus – (COVID-19): helping employers to support employees – click here.
Additional new guidance
Temporary relaxation of the enforcement of the drivers’ hours rules: all sectors carriage of goods by road
Anyone driving under the EU drivers’ hours rules or the GB drivers’ hours rules and undertaking carriage of goods by road can use the relevant relaxation where necessary. The relaxations are not limited to specific sectors or journeys. These two temporary relaxations will run until 23:59 on Tuesday 21 April 2020. Click here for more information.
Apprenticeship programme response
This document sets out guidance for apprentices, employers, training providers and assessment organisations in response to the impact of Coronavirus. The guidance has been updated with new information on continuing training and end point assessment for furloughed apprentices, and pausing new funding audits.
MHRA guidance on coronavirus
Click here for guidance for industry covering the Coronavirus outbreak. Added link to Guidance for manufacturers and Good Practice (GxP) laboratories on exceptional flexibilities for maintenance and calibration during the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak in the Inspections and Good Practice section.
Personal protective equipment (PPE): export control process
During the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, anyone wishing to export personal protective equipment (PPE) to areas outside the EU, European Free Trade Association member states and certain other territories will temporarily need a PPE export licence. The guidance has been updated with a link to a question and answer document by the EU – click here to view.
Can your business offer Coronavirus support?
NHS asks people to share their coronavirus symptoms to help others
A new Coronavirus Status Checker will help the NHS coordinate its response and build up additional data on the COVID-19 outbreak. It is open to anyone in the UK to use on the NHS website and in its initial phase the NHS is particularly keen for anyone who thinks they may be displaying potential coronavirus symptoms, no matter how mild, to complete it. Please share the checker with your employees and networks. You can find more information here.
Can your business offer further support?
The UK Government is looking for businesses who can offer support in the multiple areas and has set up an online tool where businesses can register. To offer support click here. The support needed includes things like:
- medical testing equipment
- medical equipment design
- protective equipment for healthcare workers, such as masks, gowns and sanitiser
- hotel rooms
- transport and logistics, for moving goods or people
- manufacturing equipment
- warehouse or office space, for medical use or storage
- expertise or support on IT, manufacturing, construction, project management, procurement, engineering or communications
- social care or childcare
Government COVID-19 FAQs
Frequently asked questions for businesses and employers, on business closures and stay at home, and on the self-employment income support scheme, are available on the business support website. Click here.
Business support packages: latest updates
COVID-19 Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme
HMRC has published new online guidance about the new coronavirus (COVID-19) Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme which allows small and medium sized employers, with fewer than 250 employees, to apply to HMRC to recover the costs of paying Statutory Sick Pay to their employees. Details about when the new Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme can be accessed and when employers can make a claim, will be announced as soon as possible. Click here to find out more.
- Extra protection for businesses with ban on evictions for commercial tenants who miss rent payments – click here
- Financial assistance for employers unable to pay statutory redundancy payments – click here
- The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – click here.
- Deferring VAT and Income Tax payments – click here.
- Statutory Sick Pay relief package for SMEs – click here. NEW GUIDANCE
- 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality, leisure and nursery businesses in England – click here
- Small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief – click here
- Grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000 – click here
- The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5million for SMEs through the British Business Bank – click here. OPEN
- 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 – click here. OPEN
- The HMRC Time To Pay Scheme – click here
- Import duties and VAT on vital medical equipment – click here
The government has set up a business support helpline, which is open Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm. More information can be found here. The latest UK Government advice can be found here.
There is a dedicated Government Business Support site here.
Get in touch
If you would like to contact SELEP regarding any of your activity during this time, or have any queries, please email hello@southeastlep.com and we will respond as quickly as we can.
Our bulletins and news updates will be available online in our news section – click here to view. Our Growth Hub has a regularly updated page with support, guidance and advice for businesses in the South East, found here.