Covid-19 Finance Update 22 December 2021

Yesterday, Rishi Sunak announced a £1billion support package for the businesses most impacted by Omicron. With Covid cases again on the rise due to the new Omicron variant, many businesses, particularly pubs and restaurants are suffering from a significant fall in income as the public follows guidance from the government to reduce social contacts, work from home where possible and avoid large/crowded environments.

We’ve summarised the support below and please get in touch if we can support you with your claims.

December 2021 Business Support:

• Hospitality and leisure businesses will be eligible for one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises and £100million of discretionary funding is being made available to local authorities to support other businesses though the Additional Restrictions Grant 
• The Statutory Sick Pay for Covid-related absences for small and medium-sized employers is being reinstated, with small changes to the rules 

• £30million of additional funding is to be made available though the Culture Recovery Fund 

What you need to know:

Local Authority Business Grants

These are available for hospitality (accommodation, food & beverage services) and leisure premises. Business must be solvent and in these sectors (e.g. pubs, hotels, restaurants, cinemas, amusement parks). 

Grants are per premises and the amount paid is based on rateable value: 

• Rateable value up to £15k: £2,700 grant 
• Rateable value between £15k – £51k: £4,000 grant 
• Rateable value over £51k: £6,000 grant 

 Final application and payment dates will be confirmed in guidance to be published by BEIS.

Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme (SSPRS) 

Small and medium-sized employers will be eligible from yesterday to claim reimbursement for the cost of Statutory Sick Pay for Covid-related absences.  

The basic criteria are: 

• Employer is UK based 
• Employer has fewer than 250 employees as of 30 November 2021, and had a PAYE scheme in place at that date 
• Employer can claim up to 2 weeks SSP due to time taken off for Covid-19 related absences 
• The scheme is introduced for Covid-related sickness absences occurring from 21 December 2021 onwards 
• Claims can be made from mid-January onwards Make a Claim

Culture Recovery Fund

The Culture Recovery Fund is being provided with an additional £30million funding to support theatres, orchestras, and museums through to March 2022. 

We aim to keep you updated with all the latest government announcements – if you would like to join our mailing list, sign up here

If you would like to speak to someone regarding any of these measures and to see how we can help you, please get in touch with your usual contact at Rayner Essex or fill out the form below and we will get back to you.