 Following announcements at the weekend, Basildon, along with much of Essex, London and the South-East has entered the new Tier 4 'Stay at Home' restrictions.
To reduce social contact, the regulations require some businesses to close and impose restrictions on how some businesses provide goods and services.
Business required to close include:
- non-essential retail, such as clothing and homeware stores, vehicle showrooms (other than for rental), betting shops, tailors, tobacco and vape shops, electronic goods and mobile phone shops, auction houses (except for auctions of livestock or agricultural equipment) and market stalls selling non-essential goods - these venues can continue to be able to operate click-and-collect (where goods are pre-ordered and collected off the premises) and delivery services.
- hospitality venues such as cafes, restaurants, pubs, bars and social clubs; with the exception of providing food and drink for takeaway (until 11pm), click-and-collect, drive-through or delivery
- accommodation such as hotels, hostels, guest houses and campsites, except for specific circumstances, such as where these act as someone’s main residence, where the person cannot return home, for providing accommodation or support to the homeless, or where it is essential to stay there for work purposes
- leisure and sports facilities such as leisure centres and indoor gyms, indoor swimming pools, indoor sports courts, indoor fitness and dance studios, indoor riding centres, and indoor climbing walls
- entertainment venues such as theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums and galleries, casinos, amusement arcades, bingo halls, bowling alleys, skating rinks, go-karting venues, indoor play and soft play centres and areas (including inflatable parks and trampolining centres), circuses, fairgrounds, funfairs, zoos and other animal attractions, water parks and theme parks
- indoor attractions at venues such as botanical gardens, heritage homes and landmarks must also close, though outdoor grounds of these premises can stay open
- personal care facilities such as hair, beauty, tanning and nail salons. Tattoo parlours, spas, massage parlours, body and skin piercing services must also close. These services should not be provided in other people’s homes
- community centres and halls must close except for a limited number of exempt activities. as set out below. Libraries can also remain open to provide access to IT and digital services - for example for people who do not have it at home - and for click-and-collect services
Some of these businesses and places will also be permitted to be open for a small number of exempt activities, including:
- education and training - for schools to use sports, leisure and community facilities where that is part of their normal provision
- childcare purposes and supervised activities for children
- hosting blood donation sessions and food banks
- to provide medical treatment
- for elite sports persons to train and compete (in indoor and outdoor sports facilities), and professional dancers and choreographers to work (in fitness and dance studios)
- for training and rehearsal without an audience (in theatres and concert halls)
- for the purposes of film and TV filming.
Businesses and venues which can remain open:
Other businesses and venues are permitted to stay open, following COVID-19 Secure guidelines. This includes those providing essential goods and services, including:
- essential retail such as food shops, supermarkets, pharmacies, garden centres, building merchants and suppliers of building products and off-licencesmarket stalls selling essential retail may also stay open
- businesses providing repair services may also stay open, where they primarily offer repair services
- petrol stations, automatic (but not manual) car washes, vehicle repair and MOT services, bicycle shops, and taxi and vehicle hire businesses
- banks, building societies, post offices, short-term loan providers and money transfer businesses
- funeral directors
- laundrettes and dry cleaners
- medical and dental services
- vets and pet shops
- animal rescue centres, boarding facilities, and animal groomers (may continue to be used for animal welfare, rather than aesthetic purposes)
- agricultural supplies shops
- mobility and disability support shops
- storage and distribution facilities
- car parks, public toilets and motorway service areas
- outdoor playgrounds
- outdoor gym, pools, sports courts and facilities
- golf courses
- archery/driving/shooting ranges (outdoors)
- outdoor riding centres
- places of worship
- crematoriums and burial grounds
Financial support through business grants are available for businesses impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions. We await further guidance from government in respect of business grants in light of new Tier 4 measures.
We appreciate how crucial these grants are to businesses and will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that you receive these as soon as is practicable.
The applications for four grant schemes are now open. These are as follows:
-
Local Restrictions Support Grant (National Lockdown) for business rate payers forced to close due to the national lockdown restrictions from 5 November to 2 December.
-
Local Restrictions Support Grant (Tier 2) for business rate payers not forced to close, but impacted by the social restrictions imposed at the HIGH Alert (Tier 2) level from 16 October to 4 November.
-
Additional Restrictions Discretionary Grant for businesses who were able to trade, but have been severely affected by national restrictions, regardless of whether they pay business rates or not.
-
Essex Business Adaptation Grant, for businesses to adapt their premises and operations so that they can continue to operate and generate an income despite restrictions.
 Last week, it was announced by the Chancellor that the furlough scheme has been extended until the end of April 2021.
The government will continue to pay 80% of the salary of employees for hours not worked until the end of April. Employers will only be required to pay wages, National Insurance Contributions (NICS) and pensions for hours worked; and NICS and pensions for hours not worked.
Businesses will also be given until the end of March to access the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme. These had been due to close at the end of January.
 The council is keen to continue to support our local businesses who are affected by restrictions. We will continue to send you information on financial support available as and when it becomes available to us.
You can see the current grant support available at www.basildon.gov.uk/coronavirus-business
Email: coronavirusbusiness@basildon.gov.uk
Call: 01268 533 333 and select option 1
|
