Cabinet Office issues latest advice on face coverings and Covid-19 support schemes

THE Cabinet Office has asked the Chamber to help it publicise the latest Government guidance on the Covid-19 pandemic.

1) Face coverings

As per the Transport Secretary's announcement in today's press conference, wearing face coverings on public transport will be mandatory in England from Monday 15 June. 

Key points to note:

• The new guidance refers to face coverings - not  surgical masks -  which you can easily make at home.
• Exemptions will be made for very young children, the disabled and those with breathing difficulties. 
• You can be refused travel if you don’t comply and could be fined. Alongside transport operators, this will be enforced by the British Transport Police, as necessary.

You can find the Transport Secretary's full statement here: https://bit.ly/DfTStatement. Further guidance will follow in the coming days, which we will circulate. 

2) Trade Credit Insurance 

Trade Credit Insurance, which provides essential cover to hundreds of thousands of business-to-business transactions, will receive up to £10 billion of government guarantees.

The Trade Credit Reinsurance scheme, which has been agreed following extensive discussions with the insurance sector, will see the vast majority of Trade Credit Insurance coverage maintained across the UK.

The guarantees will support supply chains and help businesses during the coronavirus pandemic to trade with confidence, safe in the knowledge that they will be protected if a customer defaults or delays on payment.

The scheme is available on a temporary basis for nine months, backdated to 1 April 2020, and available to insurers operating in the UK market.

Read the full press notice here: https://bit.ly/TradeCreditIns.

See tweets from @beisgovuk 

3) CJRS timeline

Please find below a reminder of the key changes and deadlines you need to be aware of for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme:

• From 1 July, employers can bring back to work employees that have previously been furloughed for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still being able to claim CJRS grant for their normal hours not worked. When claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of a week.
• The scheme will close to new entrants from 30 June. From this point onwards, employers will only be able to furlough employees that they have furloughed for a full 3 week period prior to 30 June.
• This means that the final date by which an employer can furlough an employee for the first time will be 10 June, in order for the current 3 week furlough period to be completed by30 June. Employers will have until 31 July to make any claims in respect of the period to 30 June.

Find out more information here: https://bit.ly/2zdheFn. Further guidance on flexible furloughing and how employers should calculate claims will be published on 12 June.

4) Next steps on COVID-19 disparities announced

Following the release of the Public Health England review into disparities in the risks and outcomes of COVID-19, the Government’s Equality Hub has today (4 June 2020) set out how this work will be taken forward.

The work will be led by the Equalities Minister, Kemi Badenoch, and supported by other government departments and agencies.

Full terms of reference can be found here: https://bit.ly/PHEReportNextSteps.

5) Test and Trace service

HM Government has now launched the Test and Trace service to help reduce the spread of coronavirus and save lives. Full details and guidance for employers can be found here:https://bit.ly/testandtracenorth

The PHE campaign resource centre has been updated to include all assets and messages.

Guidance on the Test and Trace service and how it works can be found here:

https://bit.ly/testandtracenorth

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