Update from Federation of Small Businesses

There were a few very important updates from the UK and Scottish governments on Covid-19.

Firstly, the Scottish Government increased the amount of grants for businesses that have been impacted by the recent and extended restrictions. Grants for businesses that are required to close are now £2,875 and £4,310, depending on Rateable Value, and the hardship fund for companies that can remain open but are directly impacted by the restrictions is £1,440 and £2,155. For more information, click here.

The UK Chancellor also announced changes to Job Support Scheme and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme. For Job Support Scheme, employer contribution to cover wages of non-worked hours has gone down from 33% to 5% and the government contribution has gone up. Self-Employment Income Support Scheme is extend too, with grants increasing to 40% of previous earnings and the maximum grant will increase from £1,875 to £3,750. There will be two further grant payments, covering the three months from November to January and February to April. For more information, check our Facebook post here.

Finally the Scottish Government published a draft strategic plan for managing the coronavirus outbreak. We urged the government to provide sufficient support for smaller firms that will be affected by new restrictions. Read more here. In terms of new restrictions, we have teamed up with Business Gateway for a special webinar on the latest guidance from the Scottish Government and what you can do to prepare your business for temporary closure or different trading conditions. Click here for more information.

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