The Chancellor has today (21 December 2021) announced that additional support will be available for businesses that have been impacted by the Omicron variant.

The package of support includes the reintroduction of the Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme, a new grant scheme for businesses in hospitality and leisure and a top up to the Additional Restrictions Grant.

• Government will cover the cost of Statutory Sick Pay for Covid-related absences for small and medium-sized employers across the UK. Businesses with fewer than 250 employees will be able to apply for reimbursement for the cost of Statutory Sick Pay for Covid-related absences, for up to two weeks per employee. Firms will be eligible for the scheme from 21 December, and they will be able to make claims retrospectively from mid-January.
• Businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors in England will be eligible for one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises.
• More than £100 million of discretionary funding will be made available via the Additional Restrictions Grant for local authorities in England to support other businesses. Allocation of this funding will be at local authority discretion; priority will be given to those local authorities that have distributed the most of their existing allocation.
• £30 million of further funding will be made available through the Culture Recovery Fund – cultural organisations in England.

Read the press release to find out more.