HM Treasury has announced that the Job Support Scheme (starting on 1 November) will be expanded to support businesses across the UK that are legally required to close their premises due to coronavirus restrictions. The Government will provide eligible businesses grants to pay two-thirds of each employees’ salary (or 67%), up to a maximum of £2,100 a month, and will ask employers to cover NICS and pension contributions.

Until further guidance is published, the announcement provides the following information:

• This scheme will cover businesses that, as a result of restrictions set by one or more of the four governments in the UK, are legally required to close their premises. This includes businesses that are required to provide only delivery and collection services from their premises, or food and drink outdoors from their premises. To be eligible employees must be employed and an RTI submission notifying payment in respect of that employee to HMRC must have been made on or before 23 September.
• Under the scheme, employees will need to be furloughed for a minimum of seven consecutive days at any given time and the payments to employers will be made monthly in arrears.
• The government is now altering this scheme so that businesses receive up to £3,000 per month, rather than up to £1,500 per three weeks, and they are eligible for payment sooner, after only two weeks of closure rather than three.
• Small businesses with a rateable value of or below £15,000 can now claim £1,300 per month; medium sized businesses with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000 can claim £2,000 per month; and larger businesses can claim £3,000.
• The government is also extending the scheme to include businesses which have been forced to close on a national rather than a local basis.
• The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive a minimum of £14 billion in additional resource funding this year. This means at least £7.2 billion for the Scottish Government, £4.4 billion for the Welsh Government and £2.4 billion for the Northern Ireland Executive, on top of their Spring Budget 20 funding.