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Covid-19 roadmap – when can I reopen my business in Scotland?

Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has set out the first part of her plan to ease lockdown restrictions for individuals and businesses in Scotland.
Like Johnson, Sturgeon is focusing on data rather than dates, but is taking a more cautious approach than the PM. She is going for phased and sustainable, with at least three weeks between each phase. Although, she did say that ‘if the data allows, we will seek to accelerate the easing of restrictions.’
More details will be laid out in mid-March, but here’s what we know about Scotland’s Covid-19 roadmap so far.
Phase 3 – April 5
Like Johnson’s roadmap, Sturgeon wants to focus on getting children back to school first, opening the economy at a later stage.
We could see some early easing of business restrictions towards the beginning of April.

An extension of what is classed as ‘essential retail’
Click and collect will resume for non-essential retail
Stay at home restriction lifted

Phase 4 – April 26
From the end of April, Scotland would be moving back to its level system, reopening economy and society ‘in a more substantial way’.

Gyms, non-essential retail, hairdressers, bars and restaurants could reopen
Non-essential work could be permitted in people’s homes

Returning to a level

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Self-employed to be offered fourth and final £7,500 grant in Budget

Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Rishi Sunak is set to announce a fourth and final round of the £7,500 grant for the self-employed in next week’s Budget.
As before, certain self-employed will be able to claim a Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEIISS) grant worth up to £7,500 over three months covering February, March and April.
However, if true, next week’s announcement again ignores the over a million people who have been excluded from self-employed grants because either they have a parallel source of income or they pay themselves in dividends or they earn over £50,000 a year.
Last month, influential thinktank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the Government should act to help self-employed excluded from Covid support because more than 50 pe cent of their income came from elsewhere, an exclusion which disproportionately attacked women on modest incomes.
>See also: Government must help self-employed excluded due to 50% income rule
Meanwhile, business groups have written to Mr Sunak urging him to help the nearly 800,000 company directors frozen out of emergency Covid-19 support, which they saw as a stealth attack by HMRC because company directors pay corporation tax at the lower 19 per cent rate.
However, according to the Telegraph, the grant

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