Coronavirus Update from Visit York
Following consultation with our partners at VisitBritain please find below an update on COVID-19. Please do feed this back to us by email with an updates on how your business has been impacted at membership@makeityork.com. We will then pass this intelligence onto the local, regional and national level. Importantly, this means that we can inform VisitBritain and DCMS so they can continue to feed in tourism concerns to Government.
Latest Government advice and links
- Government amends insolvency law to help companies keep trading while they explore options for rescue. The Insolvency Act will be temporarily suspended specifically to give confidence to directors to continue trading without the threat of personal liability, should the company ultimately fall into insolvency.
- DCMS Secretary of State provides an update on access to cultural attractions from home
- Updated information on the closing certain businesses and venues page around compliance. The new Regulations extending the restrictions are now enforceable by law due to the threat to public health.
- The Cabinet Office has produced COVID-19 FAQs detailing what the public can and can’t do, which businesses may wish to share with their employees.
- Government cracks down on spread of false coronavirus information online
- The Welsh Government has announced that a new £500m Economic Resilience Fund has been launched for Wales
- Further information on the Self-employment Income Support Scheme has been published on the business support website. A frequently asked questions page is also available.
- Further guidance on the deferral of VAT payments due to coronavirus has been published
- HMRC has produced guidance to help employers find out what equipment, services or supplies are taxable if your employees are working from home due to coronavirus.
- Rules on carrying over annual leave to be relaxed to support key industries during COVID-19, workers will be able to carry it over into the next two leave years.
- New guidance for food businesses has been added to Gov.uk. the guidance includes need to know information about coronavirus and food, food hygiene guidance, managing employee sickness, social distancing and maintaining social distancing in specific food business settings.
- A new HMRC helpline has been launched to help businesses concerned about paying their tax due to coronavirus (COVID-19). The helpline allows any business or self-employed individual who is concerned about paying their tax due to coronavirus to get practical help and advice. Up to 2,000 experienced call handlers are available to support businesses and individuals when needed. The new number is: 0800 024 1222.
- A Letter from the Minister for Local Government and Homelessness, Luke Hall, to hotel chief executives regarding the exemption for hotels, hostels and B&Bs to open so as to offer accommodation to support key workers and vulnerable people was sent on 24 March.
Further Guidelines Regarding the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
- The Government has sought to make accessing CBILS as easy as possible and are therefore making further clarification on the subject of personal guarantees. Whether a lender requires a personal guarantee for a loan supported by the CBILS is at the discretion of the lender, who is accredited by the British Business Bank. However, a lender is not allowed to take a personal guarantee against a borrower's principle residence under the scheme. So even if a personal guarantee is required under the lender's credit policy, it cannot be taken against the borrower's home. Some major lenders have announced that they are not going to require personal guarantees on loans under CBILS the scheme (of any size). If businesses are worried about the specific terms of finance facilities available under this scheme, they should speak to their usual lender. More information can be found here.
- The UK Government will cover employer National Insurance and pension contributions of furloughed workers – on top of 80% of salary
- Those furloughed can volunteer for the NHS without risking their pay
- Businesses furloughing staff during the coronavirus outbreak will receive further financial support – with the costs of employer national insurance and pension contributions being covered by the government. Under the scheme, employers can claim a grant covering 80% of the wages for a furloughed employee, subject to a cap of £2,500 a month. Visit the gov.uk website to find out more.
Support measures outlined by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the House of Commons
- All retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England will receive a 100% business rates holiday for the next 12 months.
- Increase in grants to small businesses eligible for Small Business Rate Relief from £3,000 to £10,000.
- Further £25,000 grants to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses operating from smaller premises, with a rateable value over £15,000 and below £51,000.
- Confirmation that government advice to avoid pubs, clubs and theatres etc. is sufficient for businesses to claim on their insurance where they have appropriate business interruption cover for pandemics in place.
- Relaxation in planning regulations to allow pubs and restaurants to start providing takeaways without a planning application.
- Support for liquidity amongst large firms, with a major new scheme being launched by the Bank of England to help them bridge COVID-19 disruption to their cash flows through loans.
- Increasing the amount businesses can borrow through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme from £1.2 million to £5 million, and ensuring businesses can access the first 6 months of that finance interest free, as Government will cover the first 6 months of interest payments.
- The bank of England scheme and business interruption loan scheme will be available from the beginning of next week.
Full details can be found on gov.uk. Watch the speech in the Commons here.
Other travel measures, advice and updates:
The UK Government has announced that it has worked with rail operators to agree a reduction in rail service levels to help tackle the spread of COVID-19. Rail services will be reduced from Monday 23 March and kept under review
- Expo 2020 due to take place in Dubai this year has been postponed to 2021
- EasyJet has announced due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions that they have fully grounded their fleet of aircraft as of 30 March.
- Gatwick Airport remains open but with limited passenger facilities. Rail and coach services are also reduced. Customers are advised to check the latest flight information with their airline.
- London City Airport has announced that it is temporarily suspending its commercial and private flights from the airport. This began last evening Wednesday 25 March and is expected to last until the end of April. This will be keep under review.
- Qatar: Has stated that passengers from all destinations served by Qatar Airways can still travel with the airline and transit through Hamad International Airport, subject to entry restrictions at their final destination. However, because of the operational challenges faced due to Covid-19 it has altered or cancelled some of its services. Affected customers can re-book tickets to alternative dates or destinations, opt to receive a voucher for future travel, or get a refund. This policy applies to all tickets issued anytime until 30 September 2020, for travel on or before the same date.
- The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), and the World Health Organization (WHO) have called on innovators and entrepreneurs to put forward new solutions to help the tourism sector recover from COVID-19.
- Transport for London (TfL): TfL announced today that it is taking targeted measures to control the flow of passengers at the stations that remain the busiest. This includes reducing the flow at the gate lines with the support of the 500 British Transport Police who are now deployed across the rail network, opening different routes to platforms and turning off down escalators to slow the flow of people to platforms.
Keep Us Updated
With the ongoing coronavirus situation, we are aware that tourism and hospitality businesses are being impacted by this global crisis. We are tracking as many of business impacts as possible, which is then being passed on (in confidence) to relevant partners locally, regionally and nationally. This is also being used to try to calculate the economic impact on tourism in York and beyond. Importantly, this means that we can inform VisitBritain and DCMS so they can continue to feed in tourism concerns to Government.
We are very grateful for all of the information that came into the first wave of coronavirus impact research, which we conducted following the initial diagnosis in York. Six weeks on the situation is very different and so we have set up a second wave of the survey, designed for this current phase.
To be able to accurately assess the situation and to make sure we are providing the full picture to our partners, we would appreciate your support in logging the impacts your business is seeing. This short survey allows you to log in as often as you'd like and record how your business is being impacted. Please be assured that all of the information you provide will be treated confidentially. Please follow this link to log in and report back to us.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/YorkCovid-19_wave2
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