Hello, I’m Cllr Mike Evemy, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance. The 'Local authority discretionary grant fund' is now open for applications from small and micro businesses in the Cotswolds. The closing date is Sunday 14 June and applications cannot be considered after this date.
The council received a limited pot of money from the government for this fund so we've had to take some carefully considered decisions in order to help as many businesses as possible. Our website explains the eligibility criteria and which business sectors will be prioritised.
There are other non-government grant schemes open for businesses and these are summarised later in this newsletter.
It is still expected that all non-essential retail including shops selling clothes, shoes, toys, furniture, books, and electronics plus tailors, auction houses, photography studios and indoor markets will be able to reopen from 15 June subject to complying with the government's guidance.
It is your responsibility to study the guidance, undertake a COVID-19 risk assessment and implement the necessary measures before opening.
We’re looking to identify temporary highway solutions that can be put in place in our Cotswold shopping streets to make these areas safe from Covid-19 and encourage customers to return.
To help our planning, we would be grateful if town centre businesses could complete our High Street Reopening Business Survey by Wednesday 10 June. This will let us know about your access and servicing requirements and any plans you might be considering to allow you to re-open safely in the coming weeks.
The survey will take about 10 minutes to complete. Although we're asking you to complete the survey by 10 June, so that we can look at your responses and take action, we know this is an ongoing process. So we will still continue to encourage businesses to complete the survey after this date.
The government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme will be extended, with those eligible for the scheme able to claim a second and final grant.
The scheme currently allows people to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of their average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits and capped at £7,500 in total. If you’re eligible and want to claim the first grant you must make your claim on or before 13 July 2020.
The extension means that those who are eligible will be able to claim a second and final grant in August 2020. This will be a taxable grant worth 70% of average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering a further three months’ worth of profits and capped at £6,570 in total.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) will close to new entrants from 30 June. From this point onwards, employers will only be able to furlough employees that they have furloughed for a full three week period prior to 30 June. This means that the final date by which an employer can furlough an employee for the first time will be 10 June, in order for the current three week furlough period to be completed by 30 June.
From 1 July, employers will be able to bring back to work employees that have previously been furloughed for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still being able to claim CJRS grant for their normal hours not worked.
A new taper requiring employers to contribute to furloughed salaries will be introduced from August.
Two months since lockdown started, and the business landscape changed for everyone. For better or worse, the GFirst LEP Growth Hub wants to hear how your business has been impacted, and what the future looks like for your business. The results will help them shape their support, and your views will be fed back to government to impact national support schemes.
When buildings reopen after lockdown, it is essential that water systems are not put back into use without considering the risks of Legionnaires’ disease. There is an increased risk of waterborne pathogens such as Legionella bacteria being present as a consequence of the conditions that lockdown may have created.
As a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, there is the potential for an increased number of people to be susceptible to Legionnaires’ disease due to a compromised respiratory system during or after infection with COVID-19.
The Chartered Institute of Public Health (CIPH) has issued some useful guidance about the lockdown risks and reopening safely:
UK Hospitality - represents the broad hospitality sector – covering everything from bars, coffee shops, contract catering, hotels, nightclubs, visitor attractions and other leisure venues
Cotswold Taste - not for profit co-operative providing advice, business, marketing and promotional support to its members, food chain producers and support businesses
Summary of business support
The government's business support website sets out the full range of business support measures that have been made available to UK businesses and employees.
Please forward this email to others who might find this useful and encourage them to sign up to further updates.You can access previous editions of this newsletter too.
Our council Coronavirus web pages have updates about business support, communities and leisure, bins and recycling, elections and council meetings, planning, building and council news.
We hope you found this newsletter useful. We would like them to be as relevant as possible so please let us know what you think and don’t forget to send us your news to press@cotswold.gov.uk
Hello, I’m Cllr Mike Evemy, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance. The 'Local authority discretionary grant fund' is now open for applications from small and micro businesses in the Cotswolds. The closing date is Sunday 14 June and applications cannot be considered after this date. 
