Today (5 November) the Government announced that it will:
- Extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme further, until the end of March 2021
- Not pay the Job Retention Bonus in February but instead redeploy a retention incentive at the right time
- Increase the third self-employed grant, covering November to January, from 55% to 80% of trading profits.
In addition, financial support for local businesses in England for those forced to close due to national or local restrictions will increase. They will receive up to £3,000 per month – this will benefit over 600,000 business premises.
There will be backdated cash grants for businesses in Tier 2/3 areas in England. Businesses in the hospitality, leisure and accommodation sectors that suffered from reduced demand due to local restrictions introduced between 1 August and 5 November will receive backdated grants at 70% of the value of closed grants up to a maximum of £2,100 per month for this period.
This comes on top of other support already announced.