Yesterday evening (Monday 4 January), the Prime Minister announced that due to rapidly rising cases of COVID-19, England will be going into a national lockdown, until at least February half-term, from today (Tuesday 5 January).
This means you must stay at home. The single most important action we can all take is to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives.
You should follow the new guidance immediately and this means you must not leave your home without a 'reasonable excuse.' The law has been updated to reflect these new rules.
Some businesses and venues are permitted to stay open, following COVID-19 secure guidelines. Businesses providing essential goods and services can stay open. The full list of these businesses can be found in the guidance on closing certain businesses and venues in England, but includes:
essential retail such as food shops, supermarkets, pharmacies, garden centres, building merchants and suppliers of building products and off-licences
market stalls selling essential retail may also stay open
businesses providing repair services may also stay open, where they primarily offer repair services
petrol stations, automatic (but not manual) car washes, vehicle repair and MOT services, bicycle shops, and taxi and vehicle hire businesses
banks, building societies, post offices, short-term loan providers and money transfer businesses
funeral directors
laundrettes and dry cleaners
medical and dental services
vets and retailers of products and food for the upkeep and welfare of animals
animal rescue centres, boarding facilities and animal groomers (may continue to be used for animal welfare, rather than aesthetic purposes)
agricultural supplies shops
mobility and disability support shops
storage and distribution facilities
car parks, public toilets and motorway service areas
outdoor playgrounds
outdoor parts of botanical gardens and heritage sites for exercise
places of worship
crematoriums and burial grounds
Businesses and venues which must close
To reduce social contact, the regulations require some businesses to close and impose restrictions on how some businesses provide goods and services. The full list of businesses required to close and any exemptions can be found in the guidance on closing certain businesses and venues in England, but includes:
non-essential retail, such as clothing and homeware stores, vehicle showrooms (other than for rental), betting shops, tailors, tobacco and vape shops, electronic goods and mobile phone shops, auction houses (except for auctions of livestock or agricultural equipment) and market stalls selling non-essential goods. These venues can continue to be able to operate click-and-collect (where goods are pre-ordered and collected off the premises) and delivery services
hospitality venues such as cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars and social clubs; with the exception of providing food and non-alcoholic drinks for takeaway (until 11pm), click-and-collect and drive-through. All food and drink (including alcohol) can continue to be provided by delivery
accommodation such as hotels, hostels, guest houses and campsites, except for specific circumstances, such as where these act as someone’s main residence, where the person cannot return home, for providing accommodation or support to the homeless, or where it is essential to stay there for work purposes
leisure and sports facilities such as leisure centres and gyms, swimming pools, sports courts, fitness and dance studios, riding arenas at riding centres, climbing walls, and golf courses
entertainment venues such as theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums and galleries, casinos, amusement arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, skating rinks, go-karting venues, indoor play and soft play centres and areas (including inflatable parks and trampolining centres), circuses, fairgrounds, funfairs, water parks and theme parks
animal attractions (such as zoos, safari parks, aquariums, and wildlife reserves)
indoor attractions at venues such as botanical gardens, heritage homes and landmarks must also close, though outdoor grounds of these premises can stay open for outdoor exercise
personal care facilities such as hair, beauty, tanning and nail salons. Tattoo parlours, spas, massage parlours, body and skin piercing services must also close. These services should not be provided in other people’s homes
Protecting your staff
We need to continue to do everything we can to keep people safe and we would appreciate your help with the following.
The national lockdown means we must not leave or be outside of our home except where we have a ‘reasonable excuse’. This includes:
only leaving home for work purposes where it is unreasonable for you to do your job from home, including but not limited to people who work within critical national infrastructure, construction or manufacturing that require in-person attendance
where it is necessary for you to work in other people’s homes, for example cleaners, tradespeople, nannies, you can do so
To try and keep everyone safe, please bring your own lunch and if you are travelling from out of the area and are car sharing, especially construction staff, please wear a face mask and keep the car windows open.
Please be mindful of staff who will now be juggling work commitments around children learning at home.
The Chancellor has announced new support for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors. New one-off grants will be available 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
A £594 million discretionary fund is also being made available to support other impacted businesses.
We are awaiting further guidance from the government on these schemes before rolling them out to businesses. We will update you via the newsletter in due course.
The Local Restrictions Support Grant is available for businesses which pay business rates and have been closed or affected by national restrictions (i.e. in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors). We are currently awaiting government funding announcements for post 16 December.
If you have already applied for the Local Restrictions Support Grant scheme, you do not need to apply again. If your businesses was closed as a result of the restrictions in November 2020 and you have not yet applied for a grant, please complete the application form as soon as possible.
If you do not pay business rates or your business is not in a retail, hospitality or leisure property, you may be entitled to the Additional Restrictions Grant. The application window is currently closed but will re-open in due course. We will notify you via this newsletter when it reopens.
A number of scam text messages are being received across the UK, trying to entice people into giving up their card details in order to claim a non-existent government grant.
The text message claims to come from HM Revenue and Customs.
HMRC will never offer a tax refund by text, email or phone.
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
This scheme has been extended until 30 April 2021. You can claim 80% of an employee’s usual salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month
Claims for furloughed days in December 2020 must be submitted by 14 January 2021.
You have until 5pm on Friday 8 January 2021 to comment on the Salisbury River Park proposals.
This joint project, between Wiltshire Council and the Environment Agency, aims to help reduce the risk of flooding for existing residents and businesses in Salisbury city centre, build climate change resilience, enhance existing and create new spaces for biodiversity and improve public enjoyment of the river.
