• Individuals you can claim for who are not employees
• HMRC will not decline or seek repayment of any grant based solely on the particular choice between fixed or variable approach to calculating usual hours, as long as a reasonable choice is made
• Adjusted text to add clarity to ‘Paying employee taxes and pension contributions’ section and added wording to section on employee rights to make it clear that you can continue to claim for a furloughed employee who is serving a statutory notice period.

Simply click on the relevant link below for borough guidance:

Hammersmith & Fulham

Barnet

Brent

Ealing

Harrow

Hillingdon

Hounslow

PM’s Speech   

The Prime Minister has this morning set out next steps in the Government’s Covid-19 recovery strategy, including an update to ‘Our Plan to Rebuild’, originally published on 11 May and publication of the Contain Framework, setting out how local authorities and national Government will work together to manage local outbreaks.

The PM’s speech can be found at bit.ly/2OECI2h

The next chapter in our plan to rebuild, setting out next steps on the Government’s roadmap for responding to Covid-19 and how the Government is preparing for winter is available at: bit.ly/30esVWg

The Contain Framework setting out how national and local partners will work with the public at a local level to prevent, contain and manage outbreaks can be found at bit.ly/32qpHl4

To help amplify this message to customers and employees, you may wish to consider sharing No10’s messaging at bit.ly/2CohOCf

 

1) Face coverings mandatory in shops and supermarkets in England 

The government has announced that face coverings will be mandatory in shops and supermarkets from 24 July 2020.

Under the new rules, people who do not wear a face covering will face a fine of up to £100, in line with the sanction on public transport and just as with public transport, children under 11 and those with certain disabilities will be exempt.

The liability for wearing a face covering lies with the individual.

Should an individual without an exemption refuse to wear a face covering, a shop can refuse them entry and can call the police. The police have formal enforcement powers and can issue a fine. This is in line with how shops would normally manage their customers and enforcement is of course a last resort.

You can read the Health Secretary’s full statement here – https://bit.ly/FaceCoveringsUpdate – and details for how to make a face covering can be found here – https://bit.ly/FaceCoveringCV19.

To help amplify this message to customers and employees, please do share our tweet: Face coverings tweet

2) Disposing of business waste (including PPE and face coverings)

New guidance on how to dispose of your personal or business waste, including face coverings and personal protective equipment (PPE), during the coronavirus pandemic has been published here: https://bit.ly/CV19Waste.

Key details include:

• Provide extra bins for your staff and customers to throw away their waste face coverings and PPE used for social distancing, and any other additional waste, such as takeaway packaging and disposable tableware;
• Make sure that staff and customers do not put face coverings and PPE in a recycling bin as they cannot be recycled through conventional recycling facilities;
• Make sure bins are emptied often so they do not overflow and create litter;
• You can put used disposable face coverings and PPE in an ‘offensive waste’ collection (yellow bags with a black stripe), if you have one; and
• Ask your waste contractor if there is anything else you need to do.

3) Eat Out to Help Out registration

Restaurants and other establishments serving food for on-premises consumption can now register for the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

You can register if your establishment:

• Sells food for immediate consumption on the premises;
• Provides its own dining area or shares a dining area with another establishment for eat-in meals; and
• Was registered as a food business with the relevant local authority on or before 7 July.

For further details and to register your business please visit: https://bit.ly/EOHORegistration. Registration will close on 31 August.

4) DfE Virtual Jobs Fair

The Department for Education is holding another Virtual Jobs Fair next week and would really appreciate your support to promote job, apprenticeship and volunteering opportunities in London and the South East across social media. I have attached a toolkit and assets that will provide you with details about how it works, and how to get involved.