John Stevenson

Reducing obesity levels is a key priority for this Government and our ambition is to halve childhood obesity by 2030. That is why in the Tackling Obesity strategy, published in July, restrictions to advertising of foods high in fat, salt or sugar were announced.

This policy is led by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Health & Social Care (DHSC), and they are now consulting on how a total online advertising restriction would be introduced. This consultation is ongoing and will close on 22 December 2020.

The Law Officers regularly meet ministerial colleagues to discuss important issues of common interest.

However, it is a fundamental and longstanding principle of our system of government that the fact that the Law Officers have advised (or not advised) and the content of any such advice is, by convention, not disclosed outside Government, without their consent.

The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent HR staff at the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), the Government Legal Department (GLD) and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Serious Fraud Office (SFO) for April 2020:

*These staff also perform other non-HR duties in their roles.

As at 30 April 2020, 76 full-time equivalent staff were employed in the Cabinet Office Human Resources team, serving a department of 8,187 full-time equivalent staff.

HM Land Registry has operational responsibility for considering land registration applications based on adverse possession. Applicants must lodge formal evidence in the form of a statutory declaration or statement of truth to support their claim.

HM Land Registry investigates the validity of such claims by undertaking site inspections and serving notice on affected parties. Any person who makes a fraudulent claim can be prosecuted under the Fraud Act 2006.

Most claims of adverse possession are undisputed and relate to small areas of land between adjoining landowners which have been occupied for many years. They are a means to regularise ownership.

HM Land Registry has operational responsibility for considering land registration applications based on adverse possession. Applicants must lodge formal evidence in the form of a statutory declaration or statement of truth to support their claim.

HM Land Registry investigates the validity of such claims by undertaking site inspections and serving notice on affected parties. Any person who makes a fraudulent claim can be prosecuted under the Fraud Act 2006.

Most claims of adverse possession are undisputed and relate to small areas of land between adjoining landowners which have been occupied for many years. They are a means to regularise ownership.

Our Other People’s Homes safer working guidance was updated on 4 November incorporating the new national restrictions for England.

This guidance can be found at www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/homes.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy had 93.5 full-time equivalent staff employed in the Human Resources directorate in April 2020. This figure includes ‘inactive’ staff, such as those on maternity or on loan or secondment, and excludes contingent staff and those on the Fast Stream.

The Department’s Human Resources directorate includes a Health and Safety team, as well as other teams not usually included within the Cabinet Office’s definition of Human Resources.

On 30th April 2020 there were 55.6 FTE payroll Civil Servants in the People and Workplace directorate in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

This FTE total includes all Civil Servants reporting to the department’s People and Workplace Director, and includes the following teams:

• People and Workplace Delivery

• People Strategy and Development

• Estates and Security

The Skills for Jobs White Paper, published in January 2021, sets out our blueprint to reform post-16 education and training. It is focused on giving people the skills they need in a way that suits them so they can get good jobs in all sectors, including the food and drink industry.

A range of provision is already available for people of all ages to equip them with the skills and experience they need to progress in their chosen careers, including traineeships, which provide unemployed young people with employability training and work experience.

We have also launched T Levels, which are a high-quality technical alternative to A levels. With longer teaching hours and a meaningful, 45-day minimum industry placement, employer-designed T Levels will be excellent preparation for skilled work or further training. The T Level catering pathway will be launched in 2023.

There are a variety of high-quality apprenticeship standards in food and drink manufacturing available for employers to use. They include, but are not limited to, food and drink advanced engineer, baker and senior culinary chef.

Through the free courses for jobs offer, as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, we are making courses available that address skills need in the economy, offer good wage outcomes and empower adults with the tools they need to secure a better job.

We have identified hundreds of courses that can give adults the skills they need in the labour market. These qualifications include those that can support employers regardless of their sector, including those in the food and drink industry, with courses in business, accountancy, engineering, marketing and a variety of digital qualifications. We are keeping the list of qualifications and the sector subject areas in scope under review and will consider requests for including courses that meet the published criteria. We have already added more qualifications to the original list. Those qualifications met all the criteria published on GOV.UK.

Qualifications not included in this offer will still be eligible for Advanced Learner Loans (ALL). ALL are income contingent loans that provide extensive coverage of regulated qualifications from level 3 to level 6, helping to meet up front tuition fees. In the 2019/20 academic year, there were applications to study at nearly 450 training providers, and over 3000 qualifications are currently in scope.

The Skills for Jobs White Paper, published in January 2021, sets out our blueprint to reform post-16 education and training. It is focused on giving people the skills they need in a way that suits them so they can get good jobs in all sectors, including the food and drink industry.

A range of provision is already available for people of all ages to equip them with the skills and experience they need to progress in their chosen careers, including traineeships, which provide unemployed young people with employability training and work experience.

We have also launched T Levels, which are a high-quality technical alternative to A levels. With longer teaching hours and a meaningful, 45-day minimum industry placement, employer-designed T Levels will be excellent preparation for skilled work or further training. The T Level catering pathway will be launched in 2023.

There are a variety of high-quality apprenticeship standards in food and drink manufacturing available for employers to use. They include, but are not limited to, food and drink advanced engineer, baker and senior culinary chef.

Through the free courses for jobs offer, as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, we are making courses available that address skills need in the economy, offer good wage outcomes and empower adults with the tools they need to secure a better job.

We have identified hundreds of courses that can give adults the skills they need in the labour market. These qualifications include those that can support employers regardless of their sector, including those in the food and drink industry, with courses in business, accountancy, engineering, marketing and a variety of digital qualifications. We are keeping the list of qualifications and the sector subject areas in scope under review and will consider requests for including courses that meet the published criteria. We have already added more qualifications to the original list. Those qualifications met all the criteria published on GOV.UK.

Qualifications not included in this offer will still be eligible for Advanced Learner Loans (ALL). ALL are income contingent loans that provide extensive coverage of regulated qualifications from level 3 to level 6, helping to meet up front tuition fees. In the 2019/20 academic year, there were applications to study at nearly 450 training providers, and over 3000 qualifications are currently in scope.

The Skills for Jobs White Paper, published in January 2021, sets out our blueprint to reform post-16 education and training. It is focused on giving people the skills they need in a way that suits them so they can get good jobs in all sectors, including the food and drink industry.

A range of provision is already available for people of all ages to equip them with the skills and experience they need to progress in their chosen careers, including traineeships, which provide unemployed young people with employability training and work experience.

We have also launched T Levels, which are a high-quality technical alternative to A levels. With longer teaching hours and a meaningful, 45-day minimum industry placement, employer-designed T Levels will be excellent preparation for skilled work or further training. The T Level catering pathway will be launched in 2023.

There are a variety of high-quality apprenticeship standards in food and drink manufacturing available for employers to use. They include, but are not limited to, food and drink advanced engineer, baker and senior culinary chef.

Through the free courses for jobs offer, as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, we are making courses available that address skills need in the economy, offer good wage outcomes and empower adults with the tools they need to secure a better job.

We have identified hundreds of courses that can give adults the skills they need in the labour market. These qualifications include those that can support employers regardless of their sector, including those in the food and drink industry, with courses in business, accountancy, engineering, marketing and a variety of digital qualifications. We are keeping the list of qualifications and the sector subject areas in scope under review and will consider requests for including courses that meet the published criteria. We have already added more qualifications to the original list. Those qualifications met all the criteria published on GOV.UK.

Qualifications not included in this offer will still be eligible for Advanced Learner Loans (ALL). ALL are income contingent loans that provide extensive coverage of regulated qualifications from level 3 to level 6, helping to meet up front tuition fees. In the 2019/20 academic year, there were applications to study at nearly 450 training providers, and over 3000 qualifications are currently in scope.

The Skills for Jobs White Paper, published in January 2021, sets out our blueprint to reform post-16 education and training. It is focused on giving people the skills they need in a way that suits them so they can get good jobs in all sectors, including the food and drink industry.

A range of provision is already available for people of all ages to equip them with the skills and experience they need to progress in their chosen careers, including traineeships, which provide unemployed young people with employability training and work experience.

We have also launched T Levels, which are a high-quality technical alternative to A levels. With longer teaching hours and a meaningful, 45-day minimum industry placement, employer-designed T Levels will be excellent preparation for skilled work or further training. The T Level catering pathway will be launched in 2023.

There are a variety of high-quality apprenticeship standards in food and drink manufacturing available for employers to use. They include, but are not limited to, food and drink advanced engineer, baker and senior culinary chef.

Through the free courses for jobs offer, as part of the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, we are making courses available that address skills need in the economy, offer good wage outcomes and empower adults with the tools they need to secure a better job.

We have identified hundreds of courses that can give adults the skills they need in the labour market. These qualifications include those that can support employers regardless of their sector, including those in the food and drink industry, with courses in business, accountancy, engineering, marketing and a variety of digital qualifications. We are keeping the list of qualifications and the sector subject areas in scope under review and will consider requests for including courses that meet the published criteria. We have already added more qualifications to the original list. Those qualifications met all the criteria published on GOV.UK.

Qualifications not included in this offer will still be eligible for Advanced Learner Loans (ALL). ALL are income contingent loans that provide extensive coverage of regulated qualifications from level 3 to level 6, helping to meet up front tuition fees. In the 2019/20 academic year, there were applications to study at nearly 450 training providers, and over 3000 qualifications are currently in scope.

The number of full-time equivalent staff employed within HR as of April 2020 was 117.7.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an established policy approach adopted by many countries around the world, across a broad range of products and materials. It gives producers an incentive to make better, more sustainable decisions at the product design stage, including decisions that make it easier for products to be reused or recycled, and places the financial cost of managing products once they reach end of life on producers. We have considered the approach of many international EPR for packaging schemes that are in operation in finalising the approach to EPR for packaging in the UK.

We published an impact assessment on our proposed measures alongside the Government response to the 2021 consultation on introducing EPR for packaging in the UK. This assessment outlined how overall packaging recycling rates are expected to increase from 63% in 2021 to 76% in 2030 under a producer-led EPR scheme. These targets exceed standards currently set for 2030 for members of the European Union. Increased recycling of packaging waste will also mean that less packaging waste is sent to landfill or incinerated. We will publish an assessment of the impacts of EPR on residual waste infrastructure, including incinerators, in due course.

I met with a number of industry representatives in December 2022 to discuss how the Government will ensure the governance of the EPR Scheme Administrator (SA) is transparent and includes representation from industry. We will continue working closely with industry throughout the development of the SA and intend to use the private sector to deliver many of the SA functions. We have also recently embarked on an eight-week series of industry-wide Sprint events bringing together key stakeholders looking to shape the future vision of waste reforms.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an established policy approach adopted by many countries around the world, across a broad range of products and materials. It gives producers an incentive to make better, more sustainable decisions at the product design stage, including decisions that make it easier for products to be reused or recycled, and places the financial cost of managing products once they reach end of life on producers. We have considered the approach of many international EPR for packaging schemes that are in operation in finalising the approach to EPR for packaging in the UK.

We published an impact assessment on our proposed measures alongside the Government response to the 2021 consultation on introducing EPR for packaging in the UK. This assessment outlined how overall packaging recycling rates are expected to increase from 63% in 2021 to 76% in 2030 under a producer-led EPR scheme. These targets exceed standards currently set for 2030 for members of the European Union. Increased recycling of packaging waste will also mean that less packaging waste is sent to landfill or incinerated. We will publish an assessment of the impacts of EPR on residual waste infrastructure, including incinerators, in due course.

I met with a number of industry representatives in December 2022 to discuss how the Government will ensure the governance of the EPR Scheme Administrator (SA) is transparent and includes representation from industry. We will continue working closely with industry throughout the development of the SA and intend to use the private sector to deliver many of the SA functions. We have also recently embarked on an eight-week series of industry-wide Sprint events bringing together key stakeholders looking to shape the future vision of waste reforms.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an established policy approach adopted by many countries around the world, across a broad range of products and materials. It gives producers an incentive to make better, more sustainable decisions at the product design stage, including decisions that make it easier for products to be reused or recycled, and places the financial cost of managing products once they reach end of life on producers. We have considered the approach of many international EPR for packaging schemes that are in operation in finalising the approach to EPR for packaging in the UK.

We published an impact assessment on our proposed measures alongside the Government response to the 2021 consultation on introducing EPR for packaging in the UK. This assessment outlined how overall packaging recycling rates are expected to increase from 63% in 2021 to 76% in 2030 under a producer-led EPR scheme. These targets exceed standards currently set for 2030 for members of the European Union. Increased recycling of packaging waste will also mean that less packaging waste is sent to landfill or incinerated. We will publish an assessment of the impacts of EPR on residual waste infrastructure, including incinerators, in due course.

I met with a number of industry representatives in December 2022 to discuss how the Government will ensure the governance of the EPR Scheme Administrator (SA) is transparent and includes representation from industry. We will continue working closely with industry throughout the development of the SA and intend to use the private sector to deliver many of the SA functions. We have also recently embarked on an eight-week series of industry-wide Sprint events bringing together key stakeholders looking to shape the future vision of waste reforms.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an established policy approach adopted by many countries around the world, across a broad range of products and materials. It gives producers an incentive to make better, more sustainable decisions at the product design stage, including decisions that make it easier for products to be reused or recycled, and places the financial cost of managing products once they reach end of life on producers. We have considered the approach of many international EPR for packaging schemes that are in operation in finalising the approach to EPR for packaging in the UK.

We published an impact assessment on our proposed measures alongside the Government response to the 2021 consultation on introducing EPR for packaging in the UK. This assessment outlined how overall packaging recycling rates are expected to increase from 63% in 2021 to 76% in 2030 under a producer-led EPR scheme. These targets exceed standards currently set for 2030 for members of the European Union. Increased recycling of packaging waste will also mean that less packaging waste is sent to landfill or incinerated. We will publish an assessment of the impacts of EPR on residual waste infrastructure, including incinerators, in due course.

I met with a number of industry representatives in December 2022 to discuss how the Government will ensure the governance of the EPR Scheme Administrator (SA) is transparent and includes representation from industry. We will continue working closely with industry throughout the development of the SA and intend to use the private sector to deliver many of the SA functions. We have also recently embarked on an eight-week series of industry-wide Sprint events bringing together key stakeholders looking to shape the future vision of waste reforms.

The Secretary of State regularly discusses a range of issues of mutual concern with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

The Secretary of State for International Trade has not held discussions with either Secretary of State for Health & Social Care or Public Health England (PHE) on these restrictions. Through the Department for International Trade’s work with our key Food and Drink stakeholders, we will continue to gather intelligence on how this policy will be implemented by industry. Sharing insight with colleagues in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs who lead on food and drink domestic policy & the Department for Health and Social Care who lead on the Obesity Strategy.

The Department’s Human Resources (HR) function is responsible for supporting an international workforce of around 4,800 people, across both the Department for International Trade (DIT) and UK Export Finance (UKEF). There were 153.75 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) staff employed in the Department for International Trade Human Resources section in April 2020. This was made up of 130.05 FTE in the Department for International Trade’s HR and Organisational Development Directorate, and 23.70 FTE in UKEF’s Resourcing Division.

This figure therefore includes UKEF staff, DIT payroll staff, as well as contractors and staff on loan from other government departments. DIT overseas-based staff are not included as they are recorded on Foreign Commonwealth and Development systems separately, but the HR function does not currently have any people deployed overseas.

The Department for Transport provides detailed guidance to highways authorities on the design of traffic calming measures in Local Transport Note (LTN) 01/07 ‘Traffic Calming’, which is available on gov.uk. The Highways (Road Humps) Regulations 1999 provide the statutory framework for road humps in England and Wales.

Decisions on installing road humps are matters for the local highway authority, and they do not have to notify the Department of these decisions. Should there be concerns about specific road humps, members of the public should raise this directly with the local authority responsible for their installation.

The Department for Transport provides detailed guidance to highways authorities on the design of traffic calming measures in Local Transport Note (LTN) 01/07 ‘Traffic Calming’, which is available on gov.uk. The Highways (Road Humps) Regulations 1999 provide the statutory framework for road humps in England and Wales.

Decisions on installing road humps are matters for the local highway authority, and they do not have to notify the Department of these decisions. Should there be concerns about specific road humps, members of the public should raise this directly with the local authority responsible for their installation.

Following Government guidance, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has suspended practical driver testing in England until Thursday 3 December 2020. The DVSA has asked approved driving instructors to respect the national restrictions in England, reduce day-to-day contact with others, and not carry out driver training until the restrictions have been lifted. Pupils can still have private practice using their own car providing they and the supervising driver are from the same household and it is travel for work, education or for other legally permitted exemptions.

The DVSA is contacting candidates whose driving tests are affected by covid-19 restrictions to tell them what they need to do. The agency has made an additional 55,000 practical car driving tests available up to 18 April 2021 to accommodate new and re-scheduled tests. This is in addition to the 150,000 practical car tests already available in the booking system.

In the Department of Transport there were a total of 342.74 FTE employed in the human resources functions at 30th April 2020

The breakdown between the central Department and the Executive Agencies is as follows:

Please note, the above figures relate to staff working in teams which are part of the organisations HR functions (at DVSA this includes Driver Examiner Trainers) but do not include any contingent labour.

We are able to provide the following figures for March 2020:

Source: DWP return to Cabinet Office – issued 12 June 2020

Obesity is a complex problem caused by many different factors to which there is no single solution. We know that regular overconsumption of a relatively small number of calories leads to individuals becoming overweight or obese. Taking action to help reduce this excess calorie consumption will decrease obesity prevalence and obesity related ill health over time. “Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives” takes forward a wide range of measures that all contribute towards this goal, including by reshaping the food environment, providing people with a healthier choice and encouraging them to take it.

The Government published its response to the 2019 consultation ‘Introducing further advertising restriction on TV and online for products high in fat, sugar and salt’ and the 2020 consultation ‘Introducing a total online advertising restriction for products high in fat, sugar and salt’ on 24 June, confirming we will introduce a 9pm TV watershed for high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) product advertising, as well as a restriction of paid-for HFSS advertising online. We have estimated the restrictions could remove up to 7.2 billion calories from children’s diets per year in the United Kingdom which, over the coming years, could reduce the number of obese children by more than 20,000.

Products that are reformulated and achieve the Nutrient Profiling Model threshold will be out of scope of the restrictions and therefore able to be promoted.

The final impact assessments on the proposals to restrict the promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) by location and by volume are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/restricting-promotions-of-food-and-drink-that-is-high-in-fat-sugar-and-salt

The developmental impact assessment on further advertising restrictions on TV and online was published alongside the 2019 consultation on this policy. This is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/786554/advertising-consultation-impact-assessment.pdf

An evidence note was published alongside the consultation on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising for HFSS products. This builds on the impact assessment that accompanied the 2019 consultation. This is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/total-restriction-of-online-advertising-for-products-high-in-fat-sugar-and-salt-hfss/evidence-note

We will publish the final impact assessment on further advertising restrictions on TV and online alongside the full response to the consultation shortly.

The final impact assessments on the proposals to restrict the promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) by location and by volume are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/restricting-promotions-of-food-and-drink-that-is-high-in-fat-sugar-and-salt

The developmental impact assessment on further advertising restrictions on TV and online was published alongside the 2019 consultation on this policy. This is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/786554/advertising-consultation-impact-assessment.pdf

An evidence note was published alongside the consultation on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising for HFSS products. This builds on the impact assessment that accompanied the 2019 consultation. This is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/total-restriction-of-online-advertising-for-products-high-in-fat-sugar-and-salt-hfss/evidence-note

We will publish the final impact assessment on further advertising restrictions on TV and online alongside the full response to the consultation shortly.

We published an evidence note alongside the consultation on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising for products high in fat, salt and sugar. The evidence note is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/total-restriction-of-online-advertising-for-products-high-in-fat-sugar-and-salt-hfss/evidence-note

The evidence note builds on the impact assessment that accompanied the 2019 consultation on further advertising restrictions on TV and online, which included estimates of the potential reduction in daily calories consumed by children. This is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/786554/advertising-consultation-impact-assessment.pdf

In the consultations we have asked about the impact of the proposals on small businesses and are engaging with industry to understand these in more detail to factor in the final policy decision. Government departments work very closely on reducing obesity and share responsibility for delivering the measures set out in ‘Tackling obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives’.

The Competition Markets Authority has not been asked for an assessment of the potential effect on business competition of plans to restrict online advertising and the promotion of foods high in fat, salt or sugar.

As of the 31st March 2020, the Department for International Development had 64.6 FTE staff employed in the Human Resources Department and 27.3 FTE officers employed in the in-house HR Operations function.

As of the 31st March 2020, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office had 116.8 FTE staff employed in the Human Resources Directorate and 57.6 FTE officers employed in the in-house HR Operations function.

The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) will provide all eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users with a discount on high energy bills until 31 March 2024.

It will also provide businesses in sectors with particularly high levels of energy use and trade intensity with a higher level of support.

This follows the unprecedented package of support for non-domestic users last winter provided through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme.

The Government is undertaking a full Regulatory Impact Assessment on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising of foods high in fat, sugar and salt to ensure the costs to business are captured and the benefits and the costs of all options are compared as per HM Treasury guidance. This assessments is undertaken jointly by the Department for Health and Social Care and the Department of Culture Media and Sport, and is independently assessed by the Regulatory Policy Committee to ensure it is robust.

The Department for Health and Social Care and the Department of Culture Media and Sport jointly published an evidence note alongside the consultation on this proposal. The evidence note is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/total-restriction-of-online-advertising-for-products-high-in-fat-sugar-and-salt-hfss/evidence-note.

The Government’s commitment to consult on an online advertising ban on foods high in fat, salt and sugar as part of the July obesity package, and the launch of the consultation on 10 November, were both subject to HM Treasury approval.

The Government is undertaking a full Regulatory Impact Assessment on the online ban to ensure the costs to business are captured and the benefits and the costs of all options are compared as per HM Treasury guidance. These assessments are independently assessed by the Regulatory Policy Committee to ensure they are robust.

Following the implementation of further national restrictions to curb the spread of the virus, the Government has announced additional economic measures to provide financial support to employed and self-employed individuals, including those working in the travel industry.

The Government has extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until March 2021 which will provide employees with 80 per cent of their current salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. The Government is providing broadly comparable support for the self-employed through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, with grants raised to 80 per cent of average trading profits, up to £7,500 for 3 months.

These schemes are part of a £200bn package of support offered to businesses, including billions of pounds worth of loans, grants and tax deferrals, which will help protect jobs throughout the UK and across all sectors through the winter.

The Government understands this is a challenging time for businesses. To reduce the risk of fraudulent claims, eligibility for many of the Covid-19 support schemes require businesses to have been trading before the end of March.

However, newly formed businesses may be able to access the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). Businesses are eligible for the CBILS if they are UK-based in their activity, with annual turnover of no more than £45m. For start-ups, or SMEs which have traded for less than 12 months, the lender should estimate turnover based upon the SME’s forecasted turnover for the first 12 months of trading. On 2 November, the Chancellor announced that the application deadline for CBILS has been further extended to 31 January 2021.

Businesses established more recently may also be able to access funds through the Local Restrictions Support Grant schemes (LRSG) and Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). To be eligible for the LRSG (Open) and LRSG (Closed) schemes at a local level, a business must have been trading on the date that local restrictions came into force. Local Authorities have been given discretion to use funds provided by the ARG as they see fit, but we encourage them to set up a discretionary grant scheme e.g. for those businesses who are affected by closures but are not legally required to close. Guidance was published on 3rd November 2020 and FAQs will shortly be issued to all Local Authorities.

Finally, newly established businesses will be able to furlough staff through the extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). Neither the employer nor the employee needs to have previously claimed or have been claimed for under CJRS to make a claim under the extended CJRS (if other eligibility criteria are met). The employer must have made a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee.

In addition to these measures, the Government continues to support entrepreneurs through its network of 38 Local Growth Hubs and the Start-Up Loans programme, for which almost 74,000 loans have been issued since 2012.

As we head into the Winter, the Government is continuing to engage with businesses and representative groups to ensure the support provided to businesses, including those established more recently, is appropriate.