The New Restrictions

Restrictions on licensed premises came into force from 18:00 on Friday 9 October, with all other restrictions applying from 00:01 Saturday 10 October. The new measures are:

Nationwide (excepting central belt areas):

• Hospitality (food and drink): all premises may only open indoors between 6am and 6pm, with no sales of alcohol
• Hospitality (food and drink): premises may open outdoors until 10pm, with sales of alcohol (where licensed)
• Takeaways (including from pubs and restaurants) can continue
• Evening meals may be served in accommodation for residents only but no alcohol can be served
• Current meeting rules, maximum of six people from two households, continue to apply
• Specific life events, such as weddings and funerals, may continue with alcohol being served, with current meeting rules for these events (20 person limit in regulated premises only)
• Central belt area focusing on five health board areas (Ayrshire & Arran; Forth Valley; Greater Glasgow & Clyde; Lanarkshire; Lothian):
• All licensed premises will be required to close, with the exception of takeaway services
• Cafés (unlicensed premises) which don’t have an alcohol licence will be able to open between 6am and 6pm
• Takeaways (including from pubs and restaurants) can continue
• Evening meals may be served in accommodation for residents only but no alcohol can be served
• Specific life events, such as weddings and funerals, may continue with alcohol, with current meeting rules for these events (20 person limit in regulated premises only)
• No group exercise classes for indoor gyms and sports courts, pools with an exemption for under 18s
• No adult (18+) contact sports or training, except professional sports, indoor or outdoor
• No outdoor live events
• Snooker/pool halls, indoor bowling, casinos and bingo halls are to close
• Public transport use should be minimised as much as possible, such as for education and work, where it cannot be done from home
• Current meeting rules, maximum of six people from two households, continue to apply
• Additionally, from this weekend, shops across Scotland are asked to return to two metres physical distancing and reintroduce the mitigations they put in place earlier in the pandemic, including one-way systems.

Job Support Scheme

• This scheme is to protect viable jobs and detailed guidance can be found here.
• The Government will pay 1/3 of the hours not worked by the employee, so long as the employer pays 1/3 also. For Example;
• Jim usually works 20 hours per week at £9 per hour, Gross wages of £180, however due to the pandemic he's only been able to work 11 hours per week, this is how his wages would now be made up;
  • Actual hours worked - 11 @ £9.00 per hour - £99
  • Hours not worked - 9 hours @ £9.00 per hour
  • Employer pays 3 hrs @ £9ph - £27.00
  • HMRC pays 3 hrs @ £9 ph - £27.00
  • Employee total pay - £153.00

Job Support Scheme Expanded for Recent Lockdown Restrictions

For businesses that have been forced to close in response to the above changes, HMRC will not be requesting the Employer top up, with their contribution covering two thirds of the employee wages for any employees unable to work.  The claim maximum per employee will be £2,100 per month, covering 67% of their wages. Employees must be off work for a minimum of 7 days to be eligible to claim. There would be no Employer contribution or top up to the wages but Employer NIC and Pension contributions would need to be covered by the Employer where necessary.

£3,000 Cash Grant - Not available in Scotland

Unfortunately the £3,000 cash grant that has been advertised as part of the local lockdown restrictions only applies to England, and hasn't been extended to Scotland as yet.  The option will be available for the devolved powers to offer a similar compensation, but it is still to be announced if this will be the case.

The National Transition Training Fund

For anyone over the age of 25 that has found themselves, out of work, or redundant at any point throughout the pandemic, you could be eligible to apply for this training grant which will fund any recognised qualification to allow you to re-enter the world of work.  Details on the scheme can be found here.