Ceredigion County Council

The Council is currently implementing Phase 3: Adjustment and Long Term Resilience of its Coronavirus response.

Ceredigion County Council has a clear vision that every single person, business and service can understand and agree upon for the adjustment phase in order to ensure Ceredigion succeeds in not only reducing predicted deaths through the first peak but more importantly for any future predicted peaks.

The purpose of the third phase will be to establish strategies that will identify new working practices that can continue through to the end of the COVID-19 outbreak.

We are asking Ceredigion’s business community to work constructively with us, with specific actions for Businesses to consider during the Containment, Isolation and Eradication phase. These are outlined on page 6 of the document: Phase 3: Adjustment and Long-term Resilience

The Welsh Government continues to hold regular reviews of the coronavirus situation in Wales.

To read the latest guidance, visit the Welsh Government’s website.

To help businesses in Ceredigion find suitable provision of services or products to help re-opening safely, the Council is compiling an open directory of businesses.

Disclaimer: the list is purely intended to be an informative aid to assist businesses find suppliers. The Council does not endorse nor promote any business

• Covid Secure Business Directory

NOTE: If you are a business that wishes to offer services to help businesses in Ceredigion to meet Government criteria please email the required details as outlined in the above PDF to cynnalycardi@ceredigion.gov.uk

Further information on 5 Steps to better connectivity.

Information to health and social care professionals on the coronavirus by Welsh Government.

Businesses will need to consider a range of measures to make their workplaces/trading environments safe (Covid-secure).

Whilst Ceredigion County Council is not in a position to advise on individual businesses – there is a range of guidance to help you:

• Face covering: poster 
• Latest information and support by Welsh Government
• Business Wales – Toolkit
• COVID-19 vaccination: promotional pack for employers

NHS Covid-19 app users can scan (check-in) as they enter a venue. If people who visited the venue test positive for coronavirus, other app users who were there at the same time may be sent an alert.

The app notification will never mention the name of your venue, it will just let app users know that they may have come into contact with coronavirus. Premises which are required to collect details of staff, customers and visitors must continue to do so, including people who check in through the app.

Visit the UK Government's website to create posters and QR codes to display at your premises.

NHS QR code for your venue

Use this service to create a QR code for display in your venue.

Get visitors to scan the QR code when they arrive, using the NHS COVID-19 app. You should create and display a QR code if you are:

• a business, place of worship or community organisation with a physical location that is open to the public
• an event which is taking place in a physical location

If you have more than one venue, you need to create a separate QR code for each location. You can add multiple locations in the service.

Support is available to help businesses manufacturing products in all sectors through their recovery. SMARTInnovation will provide free assistance to plan and implement changes to incorporate reasonable measures that ensure safe working practices that comply with Welsh Government legislation and guidance within the workplace.

To speak to an advisor please email: SMARTInnovation@gov.wales.

Non Domestic Rates - Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Relief – 2022/2023

The scheme aims to provide support for eligible occupied properties by offering a discount of 50% on non-domestic rates bills for such properties. The scheme will apply to all eligible businesses, however the relief will be subject to a cap in the amount each business can claim across Wales. The total amount of relief available is £110,000 across all properties occupied by the same business. All businesses are required to make a declaration that the amount of relief they are seeking across Wales does not exceed this cap, when applying to individual local authorities.

Link:- Non-Domestic Rates – Retail, Leisure and Hospitality Rates Relief in Wales – 2022-23 | Business Wales (gov.wales)

Relief received in Wales

In Wales, you can make a repayment by confirming your intention in writing to: sharedservicehelpdesk@gov.wales

This should include:

• the value of the proposed payment
• the date of the proposed payment. Please allow at least 3 days’ notice

You will receive confirmation from the Welsh Government Corporate Shared Service Centre that the notification has been received and details of the bank account to make the payment to.

The Welsh Government have put in place a programme of employment and skills support to help people back to work.

Part of this programme includes additional support for individuals considering self-employment. In addition to the existing start-up service, a grant to support unemployed individuals that face greater economic barriers to starting a business is being made available. This discretionary grant will help up to 600 individuals become self-employed or start a business, between December 2020 and March 2021.

For further details please see the Business Wales website.

Businesses in Ceredigion are reminded that the Council continues to offer a range of financial schemes to help businesses expand and grow. These can be found in the Funding & Grants section of the Council’s website.

The Statutory sick pay enhancement scheme supports care workers who only get statutory sick pay (SSP) when absent or are not eligible for SSP.

It provides funding to allow employers to pay eligible workers at full pay if they can’t work due to COVID-19.  

This removes the financial disadvantage to care workers of staying away from work. This will help to protect our most vulnerable citizens.  The purpose of the fund is infection control.

The scheme runs from 1 November 2020 until 30 June 2022.

For further information regarding eligibility and how to access the scheme please visit the Care Workers Statutory Sick Pay Enhancement Scheme page.

Communities For Work Plus is a Welsh Government funded project, delivered by Ceredigion County Council which supports individuals in or at risk of poverty, aged 16 or over, across Ceredigion and throughout Wales. Participants may be experiencing in-work poverty, unemployment, living on minimum wage or struggling to pay basic monthly outgoings on sporadic zero hour contracts.

Visit our Communities for Work Plus page for more information.

Careers Wales we can help you to plan your career, prepare to get a job, and find and apply for the right apprenticeships, courses and training.

Visit the Careers Wales website for more information.

These pages provide information about the changes the government has brought in to support people who are already claiming benefits, need to claim benefits, or are at risk of losing their job as a result of coronavirus.

Visit the Department for Work & Pensions website for more information.

Provide resources to enable job-searchers to find work. They offer information about training opportunities and administer claims for benefits such as Income Support, Incapacity Benefit, and Jobseeker's Allowance.

Visit the Job Centre Plus website for more information.

Working Wales can help you to get into a job, up-skill through courses and training, and to find suitable support and funding opportunities.

Visit the Working Wales website for more information.

Ceredigion Workways + offers training, qualifications, volunteering placements, paid work experience opportunities and a personal mentoring service to help people get their lives back on track.

Visit our Workways + page for more information.