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The Government has introduced The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Bill which contains a number of measures to help business through the Coronavirus Pandemic and the resulting economic crisis. As well as containing temporary measures to ease the administrative burden on companies by, for example, giving more time for companies to file their accounts, it also includes significant changes to insolvency law.

Based on the First Minister’s statement today and the document available on the Scottish Government website entitled “Scotland’s route map through and out of the crisis”, it would appear that consideration will be given to re-opening Scotland’s housing market during Phase 1 of the plan with a  view to some restrictions in relation to house moves potentially being lifted in Phase 2.

The Government has announced that the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme (the “Rebate Scheme”) will launch on 26 May 2020, with small and medium employers being able to use an online portal to reclaim SSP paid to current or former employees who meet the criteria. Employers can claim repayment of up to 2 weeks’ SSP starting from the first qualifying day of sickness if the employee was unable to work because:

The first reference to annual leave entitlement in the government guidance on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was in the update of 17 April 2020.    A relatively short passage in the updated guidance confirmed that workers continued to accrue annual leave while on furlough, and that they are entitled to take leave during this time. In addition, holiday pay while on furlough should be paid at ‘your usual holiday pay in accordance with the Working Time Regulations’, and that ‘employers will be obliged to pay the additional amounts over the grant’ to employees on annual leave while on furlough leave.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme extension - Update 12 May 2020

The Chancellor has today announced that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been extended to 31 October 2020. The terms of the CJRS will remain the same until 31 July 2020. Further details in relation to how the CJRS and the rules that will apply to employees that are on furlough from 1 August 2020 are expected to be announced by the end of the month.

11 May 2020 - Residential Property - ADS further update

In light of the difficulties currently being experienced within the property market as a result of Covid 19, the Scottish Government has announced that it proposes to implement measures in the second Coronavirus Bill to extend the time within which a main residence must be sold in order to claim back the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS).  The relevant period is to be extended from 18 months to 27  months where the new main residence was purchased between 24 September 2019 and 24 March 2020.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme – Update 30 April 2020

Scroll down for previous information regarding the scheme. 

The headline updates are:

  • Furloughed workers planning to take paid parental or adoption leave will be entitled to pay based on their usual earnings rather than their furloughed pay rate.

Update from Registers of Scotland - 23 April 2020

Registers of Scotland have, today, announced their digital platform for accepting online applications to register is due to go live on 27 April.  As of that date, the Keeper can start accepting scanned copies of signed principal signed deeds for registration.  For straightforward purchases and sales, this is a welcome development which should facilitate completion of transactions put on hold since the Covid-19  lockdown commenced.  It is, however, recognised that the online platform may not cater for more complex transactions.  Only time will tell how efficient the process proves to be.

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