We have received the below guidance from HM Revenues and Customs on how employers within the constituency may now submit claims for grants to cover 80% of furloughed staff's salaries, up to a maximum of £,2500 per employee per month, under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

We hope that this guidance is helpful to employers within the constituency, however we would be happy to assist any employers should they encounter any difficulty in navigating this process or any of the other schemes announced by the Treasury. Please do contact us should this be necessary 

Further information on the support available to businesses can be obtained at: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Update from HMRC:

Dear Ms Lopez,

Employers in your constituency can now claim online for a grant for 80% of their furloughed employees’ salaries, up to a maximum of £2,500 per employee, per month, through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. This scheme will be open until the end of June 2020.

Before employers in your constituency claim, they need to:

• Read all the available guidance on GOV.UK before applying;
• Gather all the information and the precise calculations they need before starting their application. If they have a payroll provider, they will be able to help them with this;
• Employers can find out more in the calculation guidance where they can access a claim calculator. This will allow them to check their claim for most employees who are paid the same amount each pay period;
• Access our simple, step-by-step guide on GOV.UK for additional help.

To receive payment by 30 April, employers will need to complete an application by 22 April.

We expect to be very busy so we would ask that employers only call us if they can’t find what they need on GOV.UK or through our webchat service - this will leave our lines open for those who need our help most.

After employers have made a claim, they should:

• Keep a note or print-out of their claim reference number – they won’t receive a confirmation SMS or email;
• Retain all records and calculations for their claims, in case we need to contact them;
• Expect to receive the funds six working days after they apply, provided they claim matches records that we hold for their PAYE scheme. Employers should not contact us before this time.
• Ask their furloughed employees not to contact us directly - we will not be able to provide them with any information on individual claims.

HMRC will check claims made through the scheme and will act to protect public money against anyone who makes a claim using dishonest or fraudulent information. 

We also encourage all employers to protect their own credentials and please be aware of potential scammers and opportunist criminal activity.

I’d be very grateful if you could share this information with employers in your constituency. 

I wish you well at this challenging time, 

Jim Harra

First Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive, HMRC