Hello, I’m Cllr Tony Dale, Cabinet Member for the Economy and Skills. You will be aware that the government has announced a new lockdown from this Thursday 5 November until 2 December. Once again the key message is to 'Stay at Home' except for very specific purposes including education, going to work if you cannot work from home, medical care and essential shopping.
We understand that businesses will be concerned about the impact of the lockdown and need to know what support will be available. As before, the Council is being asked to administer a new grant scheme. We are liaising with the government to understand the detail and we will update our web pages as soon as we know how the scheme will work.
Please can we respectfully ask that you do not ring the Council to ask about the grant scheme and allow our team the time and space to set the systems up. We will keep you informed through this newsletter. Please encourage other business owners to sign up so they are up to date with developments.
Business closures
Under the new lockdown rules, certain businesses and venues must close from Thursday. These include:
All non-essential retail (although they can remain open for delivery to customers and click-and-collect).
Indoor and outdoor leisure facilities
Entertainment venues
Personal care facilities
Hospitality venues like restaurants, bars and pubs (but can still provide takeaway and delivery services. However, takeaway of alcohol will not be allowed).
Hotels, hostels and other accommodation should only open for a limited number of exemptions which will be set out in law.
Please follow the link below for the full list.
Essential retail stores that remain open should follow COVID-secure guidelines to protect customers, visitors and workers.
A new grant fund for businesses that are required to close because of the latest restrictions is on its way. We are waiting for the detailed guidance from the government before we can implement the scheme but our understanding at this stage is that businesses forced to close could be eligible for:
Properties with a rateable value of £15k or under, grants to be £1,334 per month, or £667 per two weeks
Those with a rateable value of between £15k to £51k grants to be £2,000 per month, or £1,000 per two weeks
For properties with a rateable value of £51k or over grants to be £3,000 per month, or £1,500 per two weeks
We will publish all relevant details including the eligibility criteria and any application process as soon as possible. Please keep an eye out for future editions of this newsletter for more details.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is being extended until December. The level of the grant will mirror levels available under the CJRS in August so the government will pay 80% of wages up to a cap of £2,500. Employers will pay employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs) and pension contributions only for the hours the employee does not work. Flexible furloughing will be allowed in addition to full-time furloughing.
Further details, including how to claim this extended support through an updated claims service, will be provided shortly. The introduction of the Job Support Scheme which was scheduled to come in on Sunday 1 November, has been postponed until the furlough scheme ends.
The Green Homes Grant scheme allows homeowners and residential landlords to apply for a voucher towards the cost of installing energy efficient improvements to their home. Vouchers will cover two-thirds of the cost of eligible improvements, up to a maximum government contribution of £5,000 or £10,000 if the household is on low income.
To carry out work under the scheme, all tradespeople and businesses will need to be certified to install energy efficiency measures and register to take part in the scheme. Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to quote for energy efficiency improvement work under the Green Homes Grant scheme.
The way you do business has been forever changed this year. Now, more than ever, your business needs to be agile, adaptable, and accessible.
On Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 November Leadership Online, in partnership with The Growth Hub, is inviting you to join fellow business leaders from across our county for an exclusive, interactive, two-day free workshop to future-proof what you do for the new era of business. It's an opportunity to develop your skills in strategy, planning, branding, and digital marketing.
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
Keeping up to date
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, 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 Tony Dale, Cabinet Member for the Economy and Skills. You will be aware that the government has announced a new lockdown from this Thursday 5 November until 2 December. Once again the key message is to 'Stay at Home' except for very specific purposes including education, going to work if you cannot work from home, medical care and essential shopping.
