Coronavirus Update – 3rd April

Can You Help? Are you currently offering home delivery of food, essential supplies or takeaways? Please click here to give us details, which will be passed onto Eastbourne Borough Council for customers looking for home delivery.  Is your business providing any support to other businesses – such as advice on HR, rent and mental health? Please click here to provide more details, which will be added to our website and social media. Is your business offering a home delivery of products? Please click here to provide more details, which will be added to our website and social media. Or are you doing something different to keep trading – such as online exercise classes, arts and crafts packs, delivery of items? Please click here to provide more details, which will be added to our website and social media.

Earnings by Dividends If you are having difficulty claiming earnings support because you have taken a dividend from the business rather than PAYE, please let us know.  We will pass this on to the MPs office who are collating these details to establish the size of the problem for discussion with the Chancellor.

Business Support Webinars We are organising business support webinars. Get in touch and let us know which topics you might like covering.

COBRA Action Log Following Wednesday’s Eastbourne COBRA meeting, please click here to read the details of the meeting, along with the actions undertaken.

HMRC Training HMRC are holding free, online webinars on the support avaliable. Topics covered include: The Coronavirus Job Retention Schemere Funding eligible Statutory Sick Pay costs Furloughed employees and more Click here for more information and how to register.

Security Update We have received a response from Chief Constable Giles York to our letter asking for more police to be deployed in the evenings and focused on tackling business crime. His response is below:  We identified the potential for an increase in commercial burglaries at the start of our operation when we moved into the isolation phase. Please be reassured that all  local districts are monitoring these on a daily basis and as a result are carrying out patrol activity around identified vulnerable locations. Please therefore have my assurance that my  local policing teams will  support the business community in these difficult times.” Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any concerns with regards to your property, or if you have been a victim of crime. Don’t forget, the BID street ambassadors continue to support the police in their efforts and are on duty Wednesday to Sunday. If you have any concerns, please call them on 07516 927 052 or call 01323 671 660.

Trade Waste We understand that some waste companies are no longer collecting trade waste.  Email us here so we can arrange for the council to remove any trade waste from outside your building. Please give us a good description of the location so we can get it removed for you.

Insurance Claims Thank you to the businesses who have already given us details of their insurance policies. We are forming a subgroup representing the Eastbourne Hospitality Association, Chamber of Commerce, BID and MPs office to take forward issues relating to insurance claims. Please contact us if you are having any issues claiming as a result of coronavirus.

Support for the Self Employed There is now a support package for the self-employed to match the package for furloughed employees.  Effectively they will allow 80% of the profit earned on the last 3 years tax returns up to £2,500 per month.  If you do not have 3 years tax returns they will accept what you have from 1 year’s tax return as a minimum.   If you have not filed your tax return for 2018/19 due in January, you have 4 weeks to get it in; so act now. The good news is that self-employed individuals who are owner-managers and pay themselves a salary through PAYE will be eligible for support through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Payment will be administered by HMRC and can be expected in June.  For full details click here.For frequently asked questions about the scheme, click here.

Job Retention Scheme A furlough letter template is shown here for you to send to your staff: Furlough-Proposal-Job-Retention-Scheme-Template (1) The HMRC Portal should be available this month. Self-employed individuals who are owner-managers and pay themselves a salary through PAYE will be eligible for support through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.The latest guidance for this important government scheme is here.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans (CBILs) Please supply us with any evidence of otherwise viable companies that have approached banks and have been either rejected or are having difficulties  – please share the specific banks so they can be flagged. Email us your experienceso that we may pass it on to Caroline Ansell MP to take up with the Treasury and British Business Bank.

Small Business Grants The Government has published guidance for businesses on the Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund,Local authorities have received £12bn for grants to small businesses.  Eastbourne Borough Council will be ready with the software to administer these grants by 17th April.  Payment should then be made within 3 working days of a grant application being received. We will let you know when they are sending letters out to eligible businesses, which are expected next week.We are lobbying the council to get this money out to Eastbourne SMEs as fast as possible. Details on how much funding will be provided to businesses Under the Small Business Grant Fund (SBGF) all eligible businesses in England in receipt of either Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) or Rural Rates Relief (RRR) in the business rates system will be eligible for a payment of £10,000. Under the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant (RHLG) eligible businesses in England in receipt of the Expanded Retail Discount (which covers retail, hospitality and leisure) with a rateable value of less than £51,000 will be eligible for a cash grants of £10,000 or £25,000 per property.Eligible businesses in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of up to and including £15,000 will receive a grant of £10,000. Eligible businesses in these sectors with a property that has a rateable value of over £15,000 and less than £51,000 will receive a grant of £25,000.Businesses with a rateable value of £51,000 or over are not eligible for this scheme. Businesses which are not ratepayers in the business rates system are not included in this scheme.  We are lobbying the government to assist small businesses who are not ratepayers in shared workspaces, managed offices and other sectors. Also covered is eligibility of businesses for both funds, exclusions to the funds, information around fraud and rating list changes. The full guidance is available for download from gov.uk

Other News Yesterday the Health Mnister, Matt Hancock, led the briefing after recovering from Coronavirus.  He declared that over 100,000 coronavirus tests would be completed be the end of the month for NHS staff. Dr Doyle presented statistics on transportation use.There has been a small increase in recent days. Dr Doyle warned the public to stay at home. Global death comparisons will continue to have a lower trajectory than France and Italy – IF WE ALL STAY AT HOME! The National Lottery Heritage Fund has put together a £50million fund to support the heritage sector as an immediate response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The £50m Heritage Emergency Fund will be available for grants of between £3,000 and £50,000. It is available to organisations across the full breadth of heritage, including historic sites, industrial and maritime heritage, museums, libraries and archives, parks and gardens, landscapes and nature. Organisations which have received funding in the past and are either a current grantee, or still under contract following a previous grant, can apply. Priority will be given where: There is limited or no access to other sources of support Where heritage is most at risk Where an organisation is at risk of severe financial crisis due to COVID-19 To see the number of cases of COVID-19 in England and the UK visit the Public Health England dashboard. To see the number of cases globally see the World Health Organisation interactive map.