July/August 2020

44 AFTERMARKET JULY/AUGUST 2020 BUSINESS www.aftermarketonline.net The new tactic was trailed at the daily Downing Street press briefing by Health Secretary Matt Hancock: “We will have local lockdowns in future where there are flare-ups and we have a system we are putting in place with a combination of Public Health England and the new joint biosecurity centre, along with the local directors of public health who play an absolutely crucial role in the decision- making in the system, to make sure if there is a local flare-up there is a local lockdown.” This will be part of the test-and- trace system. Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick later explained that targeted lockdowns could be deployed at “the micro level,” within a locality or even a specific school or business. 27 May: Government apprentice guarantee: Funding needed now says IMI At the daily Downing Street briefing, Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised an apprenticeship for every young person. He said that the government was looking to invest in skills and training to prevent a wave of unemployment among the under- 25s. “In dealing with the fallout of coronavirus, we will be as activist and interventionist as we have been during the lockdown. Young people, I believe, should be guaranteed an apprenticeship.” Responding to the surprise promise, IMI CEO Steve Nash that an apprentice guarantee will only work if employers get the funding now: “We hope government takes heed of the fact that 71% of employer respondents to our research agree that a pause on the Apprentice Levy clawback would improve their prospects of employing apprentices. That has to be a key factor to support the Prime Minister’s worthy ambition.” 28 May: Test and Trace: Potential impact on staffing? Garages in England emerging from lockdown may need to factor in repeated staff shortages, following the roll-out of the Coronavirus Test and Trace programme. Businesses may find their employees have to repeatedly self-isolate if they come into contact with someone who has COVID-19. Anyone who has been in close contact with an infected person is told to isolate for 14 days, even if they are not ill or showing symptoms. They will qualify for statutory sick pay, the cost of which falls upon the employer. Businesses could lose the same member of staff more than once as well under the scheme, as once they return to work, if they come into contact with someone again who has the virus, they will have to isolate again. Neither will having contracted and recovered from COVID-19 be a way round it, as those who have already had the virus will also be asked to self-isolate. Scotland’s scheme, Test and Protect, was already up and running, as was a similar scheme in Northern Ireland. Contact Tracing in Wales started from 1 June. 29 May: Furlough shifts, self-employment support extended Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak confirmed that businesses, including garages using the furlough scheme, would be taking on an increasing share of the pay for workers, but also see them return to work part-time. At the same time, support for the self-employed was extended. A second, and purportedly final grant is to be available via the Self- Employment Income Support Scheme in August, which had been set to expire on 31 May. On the furlough side, from August employers will pay National Insurance and pension contributions. From September, their share of the burden will include 10% of pay, which from October rises to 20%. Also, workers will be allowed to return to work part- time from July. Since April, the government has been paying up to 80% of employee wages, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month, for around 7.5 million people. The furlough has been extended twice, and is currently set to end in October. 1 June: Franchised dealers back in business While garages were able to remain open through COVID-19 lockdown, new car showrooms were required to shut, but from 1 June, franchised dealers in England were able to fully reopen. The NFDA and SMMT produced industry guidelines covering the entire customer experience from retail to aftersales. NFDA Director Sue Robinson said: