The Third Sector Resilience Fund (TSRF) was announced on 18 March 2020 by Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government Aileen Campbell as part of a £350m support package for the sector as a response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Third Sector Resilience Fund will support organisations across the third sector who are at risk of closure due to a sharp decrease in income or that are unable to deliver their services during this difficult period. The fund will distribute £20m of emergency funds over the coming months.

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• In June and July, the scheme will continue as normal – Government providing 80% of an employee’s salary up to maximum of £2,500 per month
• In August the Government will continue to cover 80%, but employers will be required to cover National Insurance and pension contributions
• In September, the Government contribution will decrease to 70%, with employers required to pay 10%
• In October, the Government contribution will decrease to 60%, with employers required to pay 20%
• CJRS will become fully flexible from 1 July (a month earlier than previously announced), e.g. an employee can be brought back to work for 2 days, with the employer paying for those, then furloughed for 3 days, with CJRS covering those
• When claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours; employers will need to report and claim for a minimum period of a week, for grants to be calculated accurately across working patterns
• The scheme will close in October

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Grant funding of £10,000 is available from the Scottish Government to help small business owners of non-domestic properties deal with the impact of coronavirus.

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The Scottish Government has made funding available to Scottish Enterprise to provide loans through the Scottish Loan Scheme (SLS).

The Scottish Loan Scheme can provide funding of between £250,000 to £2 million (up to £5 million in exceptional circumstances) to growth focused Scottish companies that have a viable business plan and a clear ability to repay the debt.

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launched On 30 April the Scottish Government introduced the Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund which will provide an additional £45 million for vulnerable SME firms who are vital to the local or national economic foundations of Scotland. This fund will be managed by the Enterprise Agencies.

More info can be found on www.findbusinesssupport.gov.scot

The fund aims to support companies in tourism, creative industries and hospitality that are experiencing hardship, because they are ineligible for other COVID-19 Government grant support. The focus is to help companies manage cashflow commitments for the next three months and eligible companies can apply for funding up to £25,000.

More info can be found on www.findbusinesssupport.gov.scot

It’s for If you’re newly self-employed and facing hardship, you will be eligible for a £2,000 grant through the Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund. Applications are now open and this fund will be channelled through local authorities and enterprise agencies to target newly self-employed people and businesses who are ineligible for other Scottish Government or UK Government schemes. You may only apply to this fund once.

More info can be found on www.findbusinesssupport.gov.scot

This scheme will issue convertible loans between £125,000 to £5 million to innovative companies which are facing financing difficulties due to the coronavirus outbreak.

More info can be found on www.gov.uk

Employers will be able to make claims through the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme from 26 May.

More info can be found on www.gov.uk

Test and Protect, Scotland’s approach to implementing the ‘test, trace, isolate, support strategy’, is a public health measure designed to break chains of transmission of COVID-19 in the community.

As part of this you will be asked to self-isolate at home for 7 days if you have symptoms of COVID-19 or you have tested positive for it. If you live with someone who has symptoms or has tested positive, or if you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive, you will be asked to self-isolate at home for 14 days.

The symptoms of COVID-19 are new:

• continuous cough
• fever/high temperature (37.8C or greater)
• loss of, or change in, sense of smell or taste (anosmia)

If you develop any of these symptoms, contact the NHS to arrange to be tested. Do this online at NHS Inform, or call 0800 028 2816.  You should self-isolate at home straight away along with other members of your household.

More info can be found on www.gov.scot

Physical distancing measures are for everyone, including business. To stay safe and protect others we must minimise the opportunity for Coronavirus (COVID-19) to spread from one person to another.

We recognise this continues to be a very testing time for business in Scotland.  We are grateful to the many companies that are being responsible by actively supporting homeworking and allowing staff the time off for isolation.  Remote working should remain the default position for those who can. Where that is not possible businesses and organisations are encouraged to manage travel demand through staggered start times and flexible working patterns.

Scotland is at Phase 2 of its route map for easing lockdown measures. The current state of the epidemic in Scotland means that the changes in Phase 2 are being introduced in stages, rather than all at once.

More info can be found on www.gov.scot

Find out about how to carry out a risk assessment for managing the risk of transmission of COVID-19 in your workplace, download our template and examples.

More info can be found on www.covid19.healthyworkinglives.scot