Useful Information for Businesses – Update 6th January 2021
ADDITIONAL GRANT FUNDING FOR RETAIL, HOSPITALITY AND LEISURE BUSINESSES CLOSED IN THIRD LOCKDOWN
Businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors are to receive a one-off grant worth up to £9,000, Chancellor of Exchequer Rishi Sunak has announced.
Mr Sunak’s announcement follows the Prime Minister’s TV broadcast on 4th January, which confirmed these businesses would be closed until at least February half-term in a third lockdown in order to help control the COVID-19 virus.
The cash is provided on a per-property basis to support businesses through the latest restrictions. A £594million discretionary fund will also be made available to support other impacted businesses.
The Chancellor said: “The new strain of the virus presents us all with a huge challenge – and whilst the vaccine is being rolled out, we have needed to tighten restrictions further.
“Throughout the pandemic we’ve taken swift action to protect lives and livelihoods and today we’re announcing a further cash injection to support businesses and jobs until the spring.
This will help businesses to get through the months ahead – and crucially it will help sustain jobs, so workers can be ready to return when they are able to reopen.”
The one-off top-ups will be granted to closed businesses as follows:
- £4,000 for businesses with a rateable value of £15,000 or under
- £6,000 for businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000
- £9,000 for businesses with a rateable value of over £51,000
The new one-off grants come in addition to the existing business support, including grants worth up to £3,000 for closed businesses, and up to £2,100 per month for impacted businesses once they reopen.
More information on the grant announcement is available here. You can also read the full details of the government’s lockdown announcement here and the Prime Minister’s statement here.
We would like to thank White Label for contributing to the content of our updates by circulating news feeds to the Croydon business community so that we can share useful information that will help us all in the days and weeks to come.
Croydon Council Update
A message from Councillor Hamida Ali, leader of the council
“It is devastating that we are in another national lockdown, but with Covid-19 cases increasing at a dangerous rate and our hospital under extreme pressure, it is vital.”
“In Croydon the situation is extremely serious. Our Covid-19 incidence rate is now 964 per 100,000 – this has risen from 197 per 100,000 in the second week in December – and we have 241 people now receiving treatment at Croydon University Hospital. At the start of December there were 70, so the situation has escalated rapidly in just a few weeks and with around 600 new cases in our borough every day, our hospitals are at risk of becoming overwhelmed”
Additional time for local firms to apply for extra Covid-19 grants
The deadline for applications to the Additional Restrictions Grant, for those businesses forced to close or severely impacted by the national restrictions, has been extended to 15 January.
Help and advice are on hand if you’re struggling to get by
If you are in need of support during Covid-19, including advice on business grants, help with Council Tax and benefits, Covid winter grant scheme for those most in need of help with energy bills and food, tips for parents with schoolchildren and much more, you can get help from Croydon Council and their partners via Croydon Council’s Covid-19 webpages.
Daily update from GOV.UK.
Department for Education
Critical workers and vulnerable children who can access schools or educational settings
Page summary:
List of critical workers (key workers) and vulnerable children and young people who can access full-time education provision in the case of future restrictions on education during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Change made:
Removed tiered guidance information. The list of vulnerable children and children of critical workers remains the same.
Education Secretary statement to Parliament on national lockdown
Page summary:
Gavin Williamson statement to Parliament on closure of education settings during national lockdown
First published.
Education Secretary outlines plans to support young people
Page summary:
Pupils to receive set number of hours of remote education each day and Ofsted to inspect where it has concerns
First published.
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
EU business: data protection and copyright
Page summary:
Find out what EU businesses need to do with data protection, intellectual property and copyright in the UK.
Change made:
Updated with the latest information on transferring personal data to the UK.
EU business: working in the UK
Page summary:
Find out what EU citizens need to do if they are working in the UK.
Change made:
Minor changes to the page and updated the Teacher qualifications section.
Over £200 million boost to upgrade UK labs to help scientists tackle COVID-19 and cut emissions
Page summary:
New facilities include super computers to track infectious diseases, airborne sensors to monitor greenhouse gas emissions, and a unique floating offshore wind testing lab.
First published.
AI Roadmap
Page summary:
An independent report, carried out by the AI Council, providing recommendations to help the government develop a UK National AI Strategy.
First published.
12:51pm, 6 January 2021
Department for International Trade
Aid funded business
Page summary:
Guidance for UK companies on winning business from international aid and development projects.
Change made:
Update of contact details for World Bank Group, IADB, USAID and MCC.
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