Business and income support

Winter Economy Plan

On Thursday 24 September, the Chancellor announced the Winter Economy Plan – the next phase of our planned economic response to coronavirus, following the Prime Minister’s address to the nation.

Support for workers

  • A new employment scheme – the Job Support Scheme

  • Under the scheme the Government will contribute towards the wages of employees who are working fewer than normal hours due to decreased demand.

  • The scheme will run for 6 months starting 1 November

  • To be eligible employees work a minimum of 33% of their hours

  • For remaining hours not worked, the Government and employer pay 1/3 wages each

  • So employees working 33% of their hours will receive at least 77% of their pay

  • Anyone who as of yesterday is employed is eligible

  • Employers retaining furloughed staff on shorter hours can claim both the Jobs Support Scheme and the Jobs Retention Bonus

  • This gives businesses who face depressed winter demand the option of keeping employees in a job on shorter hours rather than making them redundant

Greater support for businesses’ cash flow

  • Greater flexibility for repaying loans through the new ‘Pay As You Grow’ scheme

  • All borrowers will now have the option to repay their Bounce Back Loans over a longer time period by extending the term of BBLs to ten years

  • This will reduce their average monthly repayments by almost half

  • The deadline for new loan applications has been extended until the end of November - this covers:
    - the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme
    - the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme
    - the Future Fund
    - Bounce Back Loans

  • We will work with businesses and lenders to introduce a new loan guarantee scheme from January 2021

  • Extending the temporary VAT cut for tourism and hospitality until the end of March 2021

  • Deferring repayments of VAT to support businesses during this period, launching a new scheme to allow businesses who want extra time to pay back the VAT they owe in smaller equal monthly payments, interest-free, until the end of March 2022

  • More time for self-assessment businesses to pay back - around 1.5 million businesses who pay through income tax self-assessment benefitted from the Self-Assessment Tax Deferral, deferring until to the end of January 2021.

    To help them further, the Time To Pay service has been upgraded so that all 11 million self-assessment taxpayers will be able to create a 12-month payment arrangement for up to £30,000 each, and extended till the end of January 2022.

Self Employment Income Support Scheme Grant

  • the Government is continuing its support for millions of self-employed individuals by extending the Self Employment Income Support Scheme Grant (SEISS)
  • The extension will provide two grants and will last for six months, from November 2020 to April 2021
  • Grants will be paid in two lump sum instalments each covering a three month period
  • The first grant will cover 3 months’ worth of profits from the start of November until the end of January. It will be worth 20% of average monthly profits and will capped at £1,875 in total.
  • An additional second grant, which may be adjusted to respond to changing circumstances, will be available for self-employed individuals to cover the period from February 2021 to the end of April

More information about the Winter Economy Plan can be found at here.

My team and I will be available to provide as much support as we can to anyone across Bishop Auckland who needs our help.

As always, if you need any assistance please contact dehenna.davison.mp@parliament.uk

Stay safe. We are in this together.

Dehenna x