Covid-19: The latest
See our Covid-19 hub for the latest news and updates.
England
England is still under a nationwide lockdown, meaning people can only leave the house to work if it is impossible to work from home, shop for essentials, exercise, provide care or attend a medical appointment.
Non-essential retailers are shut, together with gyms, hairdressers, sports facilities, pubs and restaurants.
Scotland
The First Minister announced that lockdown measures in Scotland will now remain in place until at least mid-February. Grant funding is available.
Wales
The First Minister has undertaken the three-week review of Coronavirus regulations in Wales and has announced that Wales will remain at Alert Level 4 – which triggers a lockdown – for at least three more weeks. He also indicated that some children may be able to return to school after February half-term.
He announced that a new round of business support funding will be available to those firms either ordered to close or materially impacted by Alert Level 4.
Northern Ireland
Restrictions continue to be in place with much of the economy mandated to close and tight restrictions in place on household mixing and travel, these restrictions have now been extended until 5 March. Only retail and services considered essential are permitted to open and people are being urged to stay at home unless they have a reasonable excuse to travel. A scheme to support Limited Company Directors is now open for applications and the level of grant support has been enhanced.
TRANSITION
The transition period came to an end on December 31 2020. If you are a UK business which trades with Europe, you will need to change your procedures and complete additional paperwork. See FSB's transition hub for further advice.
New trading rules
The Department of International Trade (DiT) hosted a webinar on 20 January which is free to watch back. It covers trade agreements, tariffs, the UK’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences, exporting of dual use items and trade remedies. The latest UK-Post Transition Forum will be held on February 4 2021 at 2pm, providing an update on actions businesses need to take.
Trade survey
The United Kingdom’s International Chamber of Commerce is running a survey on a legal reform to allow the digitisation of trade documents. The responses will be presented to the Government and the deadline is 14 February.
VAT webinar
From March, there will be changes to the way VAT is collected in the construction industry. The Government is holding two webinars – on 23 February and 25 February – to allow businesses to ask questions.
FCA reminder
FSB met with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) new Chief Executive, Nikhil Rathi, who took the opportunity to remind small businesses to review all of their regulatory permissions, ensure they are up to date and review them when they are not needed.
LATEST NEWS
Kickstart
The Government announced that firms who wish to create less than 30 Kickstart jobs can now apply direct to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) instead of using a gateway provider as an intermediary. FSB’s Craig Beaumont told the BBC: “We pushed the Government to do this in September.” FSB’s Mike Cherry told FE Week this is “good news.”
ONS employment statistics
Responding to the latest employment figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showing the redundancy rate at a record high, FSB’s Emelia Quist told This Is Money: “These figures are a stark reminder of the jobs challenge we face… action in the March budget will be too late.”
Call for Chancellor help
With news that 600,000 small firms are on the brink, FSB’s Craig Beaumont told the Telegraph that the Chancellor must look at “creative ways to help”. He suggested ways forward could include extending the Pay As You Grow model to commercial debt facilities outside of emergency loan programmes, converting loans to tax liabilities and employee ownership incentives.
B5 intervention
FSB, along with Make UK, The Institute of Directors (IoD), the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) highlighted the substantial difficulties faced by firms adapting to the new customs processes with a joint statement last night, following a meeting of the Government’s Brexit Taskforce. The intervention was covered by the Guardian.
POLITICS, PARLIAMENT AND FSB
- We have continued meetings with MPs to discuss elements of our Budget submission, including Peter Dowd MP and Yvette Cooper MP, with particular conversations about the Directors Income Support Scheme (DISS).
- The Directors Income Support Scheme (DISS) was mentioned on a number of occasions by MPs following our FSB regular digest to MPs.
- Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran asked, during oral Treasury questions, whether The Chancellor will take FSB findings that 250,000 small businesses may go out of business in the next 12 months on board.
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