So far, East Hampshire District Council has paid out 1,933 small business or retail, hospitality and leisure grants – a total value of £23.5million (17 May 2020).
Applications to the Local Government Discretionary Grant Fund will open soon, providing grants to support as many small businesses as we can that have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic but were not eligible for other coronavirus-related grants. Keep an eye out for future bulletins with more information.
For the latest information on the support available to businesses, visit our webpage: www.easthants.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support
The government’s new Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme will launch online on Tuesday 26 May.
The scheme will enable small and medium sized employers with fewer than 250 employees to apply to HMRC to recover the costs of paying Coronavirus-related Statutory Sick Pay. Tax agents will also be able to make claims on behalf of their employers.
HMRC has published online guidance which includes information about who can use the scheme and the records employers must keep.
Find out more on the GOV.UK website.
The Future Fund, which provides government loans to UK-based companies ranging from £125,000 to £5 million, is now open to loan applications.
The Future Fund was developed by the government and is being delivered by the British Business Bank.
There is more information on the British Business Bank website.
In addition to the Future Fund, the government has allocated £40million through the Fast Start Competition to drive forward new technological advances, and to support innovative start-ups, including a virtual-reality surgical training simulator and an online farmers’ market platform.
This will give companies a vital boost, fast-tracking the development of innovations borne out of the coronavirus crisis.
Find out more on the GOV.UK website.
Following on from the government's recent publication of workplace guidance, produced in consultation with industry, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy will be hosting a series of free webinars to help businesses make their workplace coronavirus-secure.
The webinars cover a range of types of workplace settings that are allowed to be open. Many businesses operate more than one type of workplace, such as an office, factory and fleet of vehicles. You may need to use more than one of the guides/webinars as you think through what you need to do to keep people safe.
Webinars start from Wednesday 27 May and will run until Tuesday 2 June - for more details and to sign up, please follow this link.
The Environment Secretary has launched a new ‘Pick for Britain’ website to address the fact that we are likely to only have about a third of our normal labour force for this year's harvest.
As such, we will need to rely on workers to lend a hand to help bring that harvest home. Opportunities are available across the UK for those seeking a second job, particularly those that are furloughed.
Visit the Pick for Britain website to find out more.
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