Mobile and Home-Based Close Contact Services Fund
The Mobile and Home-Based Close Contact Services Fund is for: –
- owners and operators of Scottish mobile and home-based close contact service businesses and
- Scottish Registered Driving Instructors.
The fund is not available for employees of these types of businesses.
Who is this for?
To qualify for support you must: –
- own and operate a business that meets the definition of a Close Contact Service Provider in the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions and Requirements) (Local Levels) (Scotland) Regulations. Examples of the types of business covered by the Regulations are listed below.
- operate your business primarily on a mobile basis or from home. By mobile it is meant that you routinely (more than 50% of the time) operate your business from multiple locations, and not exclusively from fixed premises used solely for business purposes.
- not have already benefited from a business grant support as a result of operating from fixed business premises
- be a Registered Driving Instructor
To meet the close contact services eligibility criteria, you will need to be able to confirm that you own and operate a business providing any of the following services:
- beauty and nail services (including make-up services, tanning and spray-tanning and nail treatment)
- hair removal services (including hairdressing, barbering, shaving, waxing, eyebrow threading and laser hair removal)
- body modification services (including tattooing, piercing, micropigmentation and Botox)
- fashion services (including dress-fitting, tailoring and personal shopping)
- art services (including indoor photography and portrait painting)
- massage therapies (including Swedish massage, deep tissue massage, Thai massage, scalp massage, Rolfing etc)
- spa and wellness services (including aromatherapy, exfoliation, dermatology and skincare, facial, hydrotherapy, manicure, pedicure, reiki)
The following complementary and alternative medicine services requiring physical contact or close physical proximity between persons are eligible:
- Acupuncture
- Acupressure
- Alexander Technique
- Bowen therapy or Bowenwork
- Craniosacral Therapy
- Homeopathy
- Hypnotherapy
- Meditation
- Reflexology
- Kinesiology
- Shiatsu
Please note that osteopathy, physiotherapy and chiropractic services are not eligible for this fund because these are defined as health services and have not therefore been subject to restrictions.
Individuals are only eligible for one grant under this scheme and you will not receive an additional payment if you provide more than one of the services above.
Limited companies are only able to apply for one grant per business (multiple applications cannot be made to this fund for a single business).
Am I eligible?
To be eligible for this grant you must:
- have been operating your business before 17 March 2020
- have lost income as a result of Covid-19 restrictions
- meet all of the qualifying criteria in the Who is this for? section above
In addition, you must confirm that you:
- are ordinarily resident in Scotland
- are operating in Scotland with a Scottish trading address
- derive over 50% of your income from the defined business activities listed above
- were actively trading as a mobile or home-based close contact service provider or registered driving instructor before 17 March 2020
- have not received financial support from any of the following schemes: Strategic Framework Business Fund, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, COVID-19 Restrictions Fund Closure and Hardship Fund, Hardship Fund for Creative Freelancers, Wedding Sector Support Fund or Local Authority Discretionary Fund
- trade as self-employed or as a limited company and are registered with Companies House or HMRC as the owner and operator of the specified business
- have not breached any COVID regulations/requirements for businesses
How much is the grant?
Eligible applicants will receive a one-off payment of £4,000.
This is made up of £2,000 for the period to the end of December 2020 and a further £2,000 to cover the period from January 2021 onwards.
What information do I need to apply?
The application process will be online. All supporting information must be in the right format to be submitted electronically (online).
Registered companies:
- Your Companies House registration number. You will find this on the Companies House website
Sole traders
- Your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR). A UTR number may also be referred to as a ‘tax reference’ number. It is a 10-digit number that should be on tax returns or other tax documents from HMRC or on your account page on the HMRC web portal.
- A recent screenshot or photo of your business tax account page from the HMRC portal clearly showing your full name and Unique Taxpayer Reference number. Or another form of official communication from HMRC with your name and UTR shown
All businesses
In addition to core information on yourself and your business, such as the name and address and name of business, you will also need to provide:
- Your bank account details for the business including the sort code, account number and branch location. If you are a sole trader, you may provide a personal account, as long as you can clearly show that it has been used for business purposes.
- A bank statement clearly showing evidence of business transactions. One month’s bank statement from anytime within the period between 17 March 2019 and 17 March 2020 will be acceptable. You will need to make sure your uploaded document or screenshot clearly shows the account name, bank name, account number and sort code.
- Your National Insurance Number
- Your business website address and/or social media web links such as Facebook or Instagram (if you have one)
Note that it is not possible to pay more than one grant award into a bank account. Joint account holders that are eligible to apply for different businesses should provide alternative bank account details. This will avoid your application being rejected as a duplicate.
Applications which contain inaccurate information or data that cannot be authenticated will be rejected.
Any information that you give about your business, such as your registered name and address, must match the information held by official bodies such as HMRC. This will be checked and verified.
In addition to the verification checks, applications will be audited. Any applicants who are found to have provided false information will be expected to return their awarded grant immediately and could face criminal proceedings.
How do I apply?
The fund is open for applications now and closes at 5pm on 16 March 2021.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHl28Q5HXcU&feature=youtu.be
The information in this blog provides only an overview of Scottish Government guidance and legislation in force at the date of publication and no action should be taken without consulting the detailed Scottish Government guidance and legislation or seeking professional advice. Therefore no responsibility for loss occasioned by any person acting or refraining from action as a result of the material contained in this blog can be accepted by the firm.
Photo by rashid khreiss on Unsplash
