COVID-19 Updates – week commencing 08/03/21
More updates of developments from the government and various links to interpretation and guidance.
Go to date:
8 March 2021 …
Tourism Alliance update:
ARG Funding For Tourism Businesses
In response to the disappointment that a number of sectors of the tourism industry such as tour and coach operators and English Language Schools are not included in the updated LRSG guidance, the Tourism Minister has again Tweeted a link to a speech he made in parliament where he affirmed that these businesses were eligible for ARG grants and called on Councils to give them due consideration to prioritising support.
Here is the text of the tweet on 5 March 2021:
Nigel Huddleston MP #StayAtHome @HuddlestonNigel
The government has made over £1billion of discretionary grants available to Local Councils to help tourism & other businesses impacted by Covid who aren’t eligible for other grants.
I repeat my appeal for such businesses to apply – and for Councils to consider them carefully. pic.twitter.com/XNJRJ8CBuM
ONS’s Social Impact Monitoring
There’s some good news from the latest round of ONS’s social impact monitoring. The proportion of adults that felt that life will return to normal within six months increased by almost 50% (from 22% to 32%) over the last week, while the proportion of adults who felt that it will take more than a year decreased by almost a third (from 27% to 20%). This is a very substantial change in the space of a week and is the first time since June 2020 that more than 30% of people thought that life will return to normal within 6 months.
State Aid Limited Increased to £10.9m
Paul Scully has confirmed via twitter that the government is removing the EU Sate Aid cap of £3m and replace it with a higher limit of £10.9m. This will help many large businesses in the tourism sector which would otherwise not have benefitted from the additional support announced in the budget on Wednesday.
https://twitter.com/scullyp/status/1367447728406601737?s=20
Furlough Statistics
The latest round of furlough statistics have been released and show, yet again, that tourism businesses are the most impacted with around 60% of people working in the sector being on furlough in January compared to just 20% for UK businesses as a whole.
Vulnerability Analysis
ONS have also undertaken an analysis of the types of jobs that have been most and least vulnerable to reduced hours or pay during the coronavirus. The analysis again highlights the impact on the hospitality sector and the need to protect people in the industry. Two key findings are:
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- Waiters and waitresses saw a pay decrease of 10.0% compared with 2019; 77.3% were furloughed.
- Chefs, and restaurant and catering managers saw similar drops in pay, and staff in these jobs were furloughed at a rate of 67.9% and 72.8%, respectively.
https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc1227/index.html
Kick Start Update
The guidance for the Kick Start scheme has been updated (yet again) to include more detail on the process for hiring an employee and the payment schedule for people employed through the scheme. The process for recruiting someone is:
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- You or your Kickstart gateway will give DWP job descriptions that work coaches at Jobcentre Plus will use to match candidates to the job placements.
- You or your Kickstart gateway will receive a notification email each time a young person is referred to the job placement (‘referrals’).
- Referred candidates may choose to apply for the job placement.
- You’ll then be able to interview the candidates who have applied.
- You or your Kickstart gateway will tell DWP when the young person has started so we can process the funding.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-kickstart-scheme-grant
R Number and Growth Rate
As ever, we end with this week’s R number and growth Rate, which are 0.7 to 0.9 and -5% to -3% respectively. Which are essentially unchanged from last week.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-r-number-in-the-uk
CPT update:
LATERAL FLOW TESTING AVAILABLE FOR ALL BUSINESSES
The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that from today (6 March) all businesses in England irrespective of size can now sign up to the government’s free COVID-19 workplace testing programme
The programme will remain open for businesses to register until 31 March and testing will remain free until the end of June
An online portal is available for businesses to find out more about how to provide rapid workplace testing for their employees
Businesses will be provided with all the information they need to plan and deliver their testing programme, along with promotional materials
All local authorities in England are also now offering rapid lateral flow testing for small businesses if they can’t offer rapid workplace testing
The location of your nearest local test site can be found here
Government guidance remains that all those who can work from home should continue to do so
11 March 2021 …
Tourism Alliance update:
Grant Subsidy Allowance
The Government has updated the guidance on the current grants that are available to businesses in line with the Government’s recent announcement that the State Aid caps were being changed now that the UK is no longer a member of the EU. The replacement for Coronavirus support is called the Grant Subsidy Allowance and has a cap of £10,935,000, which consists of three components
1 Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance
Businesses allowed up to £335,000 (subject to exchange rates) over any period of 3 years
2 COVID-19 Business Grant Allowance
Businesses are allowed up to £1,600,000
3 COVID-19 Business Grant Special Allowance
Businesses that have reached their limits under the Small Amounts of Financial Assistance Allowance and COVID-19 Business Grant Allowance may be able to access a further allowance of funding under these scheme rules of up to £9,000,000, provided certain conditions are met
The details of these three allowances is available in the updated guidance documents for the different grant schemes
ARG
LRSG (Closed)
LRSG (Sector)
Christmas Support Payment for Pubs
Closing Dates for Grant Applications
The Government has also updated the closing dates for applications to the various grants. These are:
LRSG (Closed)
National lockdown, 5 November 2020
31 March 2021
National lockdown, 5 January 2021: first payment cycle, 5 January to 15 February
31 March 2021
National lockdown, 5 January 2021: second payment cycle, 16 February to 31 March
31 May 2021
LRSG (Sector)
Closing Date – 31 March 2021
LRSG (Open)
Closing Date – 31 March 2021
Closed Businesses Lockdown Payment
Closing Date – 31 March 2021.
ARG Update
The guidance on the ARG grant has been updated to specifically include tourism and events businesses that are not eligible for other grants.
Local councils have the freedom to determine the eligibility criteria for these grants. However, we expect the funding to help those businesses which – while not legally forced to close – are nonetheless severely impacted by the restrictions.
This could include:
· businesses which supply the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors
· businesses in the tourism and events sectors
· business required to close but which do not pay business rates
Updated Financial Support Finder
The government’s online tool for helping businesses find what financial support they are entitled to has been updated in line with recent changes to support announced in the budget
https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder
Tier 4 Changes in Scotland
The Scottish Government has announced the following changes from 12th March:
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- Up to four adults from two households will be able to meet locally in any outdoor space, including in private gardens, for social and recreational purposes as well as exercise. People should only go indoors if it is essential in order to reach a back garden, or to go to the toilet.
- Outdoor non-contact sports and group exercise will also resume for adults in groups of up to 15 people.
- Young people aged 12 to 17 will be able to meet outdoors in groups of up to four people from four different households, participate in outdoor non-contact sports, and other organised activities in groups of up to 15 and travel across local authority boundaries to participate in such activities.
They also announced that they intend to reopen places of worship with attendance limits increased from 20 to 50 where there is space for social distancing on Friday 26 March, with a decision be taken on Tuesday 23 March.
https://www.gov.scot/news/changes-to-level-4-restrictions/
Consultation on APD
The Prime Minister, in a range of transport initiatives launched today (see below), has announced that the Government will launch a consultation this spring on reforming Air Passenger Duty tax in order to boost air transport connections within the UK. The Government will also be exploring new requirements to offset emissions and continue to decarbonise aviation
The consultation will include options to change the APD treatment for domestic flights, such as reintroducing a return leg exemption or creation of a new lower domestic rate and will look at the case for increasing the number of international distance bands.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/move-to-boost-transport-connections-across-the-whole-of-the-uk
Ban On Commercial Evictions Extended
The Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, has announced that the Government has extended the ban on commercial evictions until to 30 June in order to help support businesses during the re-opening phase. In addition, the Government is also launched a call for evidence on commercial rents to help monitor the overall progress of negotiations between tenants and landlords. The call for evidence will also set out potential steps that government could take after 30 June, ranging from a phased withdrawal of current protections to legislative options targeted at those businesses most impacted by COVID-19. This call for evidence will inform a review of commercial landlord and tenant legislation later this year and will consider a broad range of issues including the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 Part II, different models of rent payment, and the impact of Coronavirus on the market.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/further-support-for-commercial-and-residential-tenants
Accessing Green Spaces Safely
The guidance on public outdoor spaces that people can visit to exercise or to undertake outdoor recreation (such as having a picnic) has been updated. The current list is:
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- parks, beaches, countryside accessible to the public, forests
- public and botanical gardens – whether or not you pay to enter them
- the grounds of a heritage site
- outdoor attractions at sculpture parks
- allotments
- public playgrounds
- parks or village greens that have freely accessible sports equipment – such as football goals
It should be noted that people must minimise the amount of time they spend outside their home and should not travel outside their local area – so this does not allow daytrips to the seaside or to visit outdoor gardens and attractions outside their area.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-on-accessing-green-spaces-safely
VAT Deferral New Payment Scheme
The VAT Deferral New Payment Scheme was launched on 23 February and allows businesses to:
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- pay deferred VAT in equal instalments, interest free
- choose the number of instalments, from 2 to 11 (depending on when the business joins the scheme join)
The guidance has been updated so that, from today, businesses on the VAT Annual Accounting Scheme or the VAT Payment on Account Scheme, can now join this scheme.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deferral-of-vat-payments-due-to-coronavirus-covid-19
Funding for London – Derry Route
The Government has announced that it will provide Loganair with £4.3 million to fund 13 return flights a week between City of Derry Airport and London Stansted for a period of two tears from 1 April 2021 in order to keep this route open.
Union Connectivity Review
The Government announced the Union Connectivity Review last year. The purpose of the review being to consider:
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- the quality and reliability of major connections across the UK
- likely current and future demand for transport links
- the environmental impact of policy options (including with regard to climate change)
- existing work completed by the government on cross-UK connectivity
Today, Sir Peter Hendy CBE, who is undertaking the review, published the interim report which sets out the following key issues. The ones with tourism implications are:
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- Faster and higher capacity connections for passengers from HS2 to Scotland and North Wales, and consequently better freight capacity too
- Higher capacity and faster journey times to and from Scotland from England and Wales and Newcastle by rail (East Coast Main Line) and road (A1)
- A higher capacity and faster connection on the A75 from the ferry port at Cairnryan to the M6 corridor for freight and passengers to and from Northern Ireland
- Relief from congestion for the M4 corridor in South Wales, on which the Burns Commission recently reported to the Welsh Government, and consequent improvements to the South Wales main line
- Better port capacity at Holyhead, and connections from Ynys Môn and the North Wales coast to Merseyside and Manchester for freight and passengers
- Faster and higher capacity connections from Belfast to North West Northern Ireland, and to the Republic of Ireland, for passengers and freight, and to link with the Republic’s plans for rail development
- Better air links to England to and from Northern Ireland and Northern Scotland, including but not exclusively to and from London Heathrow, for worldwide connections for passengers and freight; including the appropriate rate of Air Passenger Duty for journeys not realistic by rail
Building on this, the Prime Minister has announced £20m for exploring the development of projects such as:
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- improved rail connectivity between the north coast of Wales and England
- upgrading the A75 between Gretna, Dumfries and Stranraer – a key route for south-west Scotland and Northern Ireland but almost entirely single-carriageway
- significantly faster rail links from England to Scotland, including looking at options to enhance the West Coast Main Line
- rail improvements in south-east Wales, building on ideas from the Welsh Government’s Burns Commission
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/move-to-boost-transport-connections-across-the-whole-of-the-uk
