Government announces financial support for businesses affected by COVID-19

With such an unprecedented and fast moving situation, we appreciate that the information being given by the Government to support businesses affected by COVID-19 is limited but will hopefully become clearer in the coming days.

The various measures being put in place to support businesses, including those announced last night by the Chancellor in the Commons Budget debate, will hopefully provide some comfort to struggling businesses, although at the moment there is little detail available about how this will work in practice, or how to apply.

The following support had been announced by the Scottish Government on 14 March 2020:

• A 75% rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure sectors with a rateable value (RV) of less than £69,000 from 1 April 2020.
• An £80 million fund to provide grants of at least £3,000 to small businesses in sectors facing the worst economic impact of COVID-19.
• 1.6% rates relief for all properties across Scotland, effectively reversing the planned below inflation uplift in the poundage from 1 April 2020.
• A fixed rates relief of up to £5,000 for all pubs with a RV of less than £100,000 from 1 April 2020.
• A dedicated helpline for Scottish businesses (0300 303 0660) is now open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:30pm.

For those experiencing difficulty in paying loans or tax, please contact your bank or call HMRC on 0800 024 1222.

As of 17 March 2020, a £330bn support package was announced by the UK government which Economy Secretary MSP Fiona Hyslop confirmed will be ‘mirrored’ in Scotland, including:

• Small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief.
• Grant funding of £25,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a RV between £15,000 and £51,000.
• A 12-month business rates holiday for all retail, hospitality and leisure business.
• A new ‘Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme’, delivered by the British Business Bank, will enable businesses to apply for a loan of up to £5 million, with the government covering up to 80% of any losses with no fees. Businesses can access the first 6 months of that finance interest free, as government will cover the first 6 months of interest payments.
• For businesses with fewer than 250 employees, the cost of providing 14 days of Statutory Sick Pay per employee will be refunded by the Government in full.

The Scottish Government are also looking at additional business measures from Westminster in relation to delayed tax bills (including PAYE and VAT), suspension of apprenticeship levy, wage support (to include self-employed), safeguards against price hikes, a package of support for the fishing industry who won’t get rates relief and they stated they would be “loosening” regulations so the tourist tax legislation has been halted, the bottle return system delayed until July 2022 and restaurants will be allowed to operate as takeaways.

We will be monitoring the ongoing situation closely and will provide updates as and when the position becomes clearer.