The Government has announced a package of help for businesses.

*If you are a small or medium-sized business, you may be entitled to reclaim the costs of

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) for sickness absence due to COVID-19.

*Some businesses will be eligible for a Business Rates holiday. If you are receiving the retail discount for your Business Rates bill, you will receive a revised bill with 100 per cent relief shortly and if your business occupies a property in the retail sector with a rateable value of £51,000 or more, or if your business occupies a property in the leisure or hospitality sectors you may also be eligible for the 100 per cent discount on your business rates bill. If you are a nursery, you will be entitled to the 100 per cent relief for the next year.

*If your business is eligible for small business rate relief or rural rate relief, you are

entitled to a one-off cash grant of £10,000

*If your business is in the retail, hospitality or leisure sector then you may also be

entitled to a cash grant. If you have a property with a rateable value of less than £15,000

then you will be entitled to a grant of £10,000, whether or not you are entitled to small

business rate relief or rural rate relief. If you have a property with a rateable value of between

£14,999 and £51,000 then you will be entitled to a cash grant of £25,000.

If you are an eligible business, Cornwall Council will be in touch in the coming

weeks to provide details of how to claim this money.

If your small or medium-sized business is facing cash flow issues, as a result of

COIVD-19 a Coronavirus, a Business Interruption Loan Scheme will launch at the start of next week to support businesses to access bank lending and overdrafts.

The government will provide lenders with a partial guarantee of 80 per cent on each loan to give lenders confidence in continuing to provide finance. The Scheme will

support loans of up to £5 million. The first six months will be interest free. Businesses will be able to get finance under the scheme from a large number of providers, including the main high street banks, as of next week.

If you are self-employed or own a business and you are concerned about not being able to pay your tax bills because of COVID-19, you may be eligible for support through Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Time to Pay service. For more information go to

If you own a pub that serves food or a restaurant you will be able to operate a hot

food takeaway to serve people staying at home without going through the usual planning

process. Once the legislation has come into force a pub or restaurant will be

able to notify their Local Authority that they are now operating as a takeaway without

any prior approval.

If the only barrier to your business making an insurance claim was a lack of clarity on whether

the government advising people to stay away from businesses, rather than ordering businesses to shut down, was sufficient to make a claim on business interruption insurance the government’s medical advice of 16 March is sufficient to enable those businesses

which have an insurance policy that covers both pandemics and government ordered

closure to make a claim - provided all other terms and conditions in their policy are met.

However, most businesses have not purchased insurance that covers pandemic related

losses.

For the latest information on the government’s COVID-19 Action Plan go to: gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-action-plan