
Happy New Year - our first newsletter of 2021! Throughout this year we will continue to bring you news and developments relating to the charities sector.
So what are the take-away points from last week's activity, following on from my colleague, Katherine Sinclair's ebrief on 11 November?
Notice
Following Katherine's "heads up" in the ebrief, the Government has now confirmed that for claim periods post 1 December, employers will not be able to claim for employees who are serving their notice; either statutory or contractual. This includes employees who have resigned as well as any who are made redundant. We suspected this was coming down the track but it is now confirmed. This marks a change from the previous scheme and reiterates the Government's desire to keep as many people as they can on PAYE for as long as they can.
TUPE
The change that has been made to the TUPE provisions is one of those that is small in syntax but hugely significant for those affected. The original guidance of 10 November appeared to suggest that employees who had transferred under TUPE after 1 September could not be furloughed by their new employer. This would rather negate the purpose of TUPE to protect the rights of the transferring employees. However, the guidance change on 12 November rectified this. It now states that "employees being claimed for should have been employed by their prior employer on or before 30 October 2020 and; transferred from them their old employer to their new employer on or after 1 September 2020; employed by either their old employer or new employer on 30 October 2020; and on a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC, by their old or new employer between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee".
Returning early?
We have further clarification regards employees returning from maternity leave early in order to be furloughed. Earlier last week, the guidance gave no mention of agreeing to reduce the eight week notice period for early returners who prefer to be put on furlough at 80% salary rather than SMP. The 13 November guidance clarifies that an earlier notice period can be agreed and an employee can return and be placed on furlough according to that newly agreed date. Again a specific point but none the less key for those it affects.
The naming game
We knew from last week’s preliminary guidance that HMRC would be publishing employers who claimed under the CJRS. The Treasury Direction, dated 12 November, has now given more detail of what will be published. HMRC will publish not only the name of the employer who has claimed but also the amount claimed. This only applies to the December 2020 and January 2021 claim periods at present. The intention is presumably to sniff out fraudulent claims but it may impact some employers’ willingness to claim in genuine circumstances. If it carries on in February and March 2021, we can assume that the Government thought it worth that risk.
As always, we are only several emails away from new government updates and this update is correct at time of writing on 16 November.
Please contact Libby Hubbard if you require any further information.
Happy New Year - our first newsletter of 2021! Throughout this year we will continue to bring you news and developments relating to the charities sector.
Local authorities should be wary of reserving contracts for local suppliers, as recommended by Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 11/20. Other contracting authorities may want to maximise their use of this
Most housing practitioners have perhaps been waiting for this news since the latest lockdown was announced by the Prime Minister on 4 January 2021.
Climate change and biodiversity is an area where significantly faster changes are needed on a global and local basis.
Chris Lloyd Smith, Adrian Leonard and Lisa Whitehouse discuss the planning opportunities available to owners of businesses and how to prepare for unforeseen events.
In their 3rd podcast of the series, Chris Lloyd-Smith and Maria Ramon discuss a number of problems with and difficulties that can arise in mediation and the mechanisms they use to overcome them.
Our previous round-up began by sharing the news that two vaccines had shown very promising test results. Here we are, not even a month later, and the first vaccines have already been administered!
The Covid-19 crisis has demonstrated that there is great resilience and innovation in the housing sector across Greater Manchester, it has also brought shortfalls and other priorities sharply into foc
For part 5 in this series of short podcasts, Chris Lloyd-Smith interviews associate Kadie Bennett on how she has been coping during these unprecedented times.
The first report of Donna Ockenden and her team into the review of maternity services at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust has been published today.
To receive invitations to our events, as well as information and articles on legal issues and sector developments that are of interest to you, please sign up to Newsroom.