Law360, London: The owner of a portfolio of hotel companies has sued its insurance broker for allegedly failing to arrange adequate cover that would have protected the businesses from losses incurred during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

What are the key features of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme? The government has announced a number of measures to assist businesses through the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis—the details of these are available here, and include financial help for specific types of businesses likely to be particularly badly affected, as well as providing assistance with payments of tax, salaries and sick pay. The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is one of the government’s key measures to support business through the crisis. The key features of the scheme are as follows: • it provides small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with access to loans, overdrafts, invoice finance and asset finance • the government-owned British Business Bank provides a guarantee of 80% of the amount outstanding under each loan made under the scheme • the maximum amount of each facility is £5m and the terms available are up to six years for term loans and asset finance and up to three years for overdrafts and invoice financing facilities • the

Energy Analysis: Judith Aldersey-Williams, partner at CMS, discusses what the combination of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and the recent crash in oil price means for the North Sea oil and gas industry.

Family analysis: Marilyn Bell, partner and head of the family team at SA Law, Jonathan Evans, barrister at 4PB, Katie Spooner, partner at Winckworth Sherwood and Chris Longbottom, partner and head of the Manchester family team at Clarke Willmott, consider how the coronavirus outbreak may effect arrangements for children whose parents are divorced or separated, both in cases where a court order is in place and those where the arrangements are more informal. How the court may deal with the breach of an existing order is also examined.

Tax analysis: In Raystra Healthcare Ltd, the First-tier Tax Tribunal (FTT) found that claims under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme must fail where the employees in question had not been included in a real-time information (RTI) return before the relevant deadline. The rules were clear and there was no discretion to make exceptions.

For general information on issues relating to the right to holiday and holiday pay during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—holiday and holiday pay [Archived]. The calculation of holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR 1998), SI 1998/1833 has remained unchanged during the coronavirus pandemic; the amendments set out in the Employment Rights Act 1996 (Coronavirus, Calculation of a Week’s Pay) Regulations 2020 (Week’s Pay Amendments Regs 2020), SI 2020/814 do not apply in respect of calculation of holiday pay. Under the WTR 1998, SI 1998/1833, reg 16, during any period of statutory holiday a worker is entitled to be paid at the rate of a ‘week’s pay’ for each week of holiday, calculated in accordance with sections 221–224 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996) (with certain modifications). Different methods

During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many employees have been working from home either: • during lockdown periods, as a result of the legal prohibition on leaving home unless an exception applies, eg it is reasonably necessary for them to leave or be outside the home for the purposes of work • at other times, as a result of government guidance, eg that everyone should work from home if they can For further information, see: • Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—national lockdown restrictions 6 January to 28 March 2021 [Archived], in particular section: Working from home or in the workplace • Practice Note: Coronavirus (COVID-19)—managing the workplace to 18 July 2021 [Archived], in particular section: Where employees should work In addition, as set out in the BEIS Working safely guidance (see eg the Offices and contact centres guidance),

Insurance & Reinsurance analysis: The Supreme Court held that payments received under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) fall within standard ‘savings’ clauses in business interruption policies and must be deducted from the indemnity. Construing ‘reduction’ as a matter of factual economic effect, the court found that wage costs were reduced notwithstanding the insureds’ continuing liability to pay employees. It further held that CJRS payments were proximately caused by the insured peril and were not collateral benefits, rejecting arguments based on voluntariness or benevolence. The decision confirms insurers’ entitlement to deduct such payments and provides authoritative guidance on the treatment of third-party payments, reinforcing core indemnity principles and limiting over-indemnification. Produced in partnership with Josephine Higgs KC of 7 King’s Bench Walk.

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note is not maintained and is for background information only. This Practice Note considers the extended version of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) that applied from 1 May 2021 to 30 September 2021, referred to in this Practice Note as the ‘extended CJRS’ or the ‘CJRS extension’. The CJRS has now ended. Claims for September 2021 had to be submitted on or before 14 October 2021, and any amendments had to be made on or before 28 October 2021. For claim periods from 1 November 2020, HMRC may accept late claims or amendments if taxpayers have: • taken reasonable care to try and claim on time • a reasonable excuse, and • have claimed as soon as their reasonable excuse no longer applies For further details of the process for making a late claim or amendment, and the information that must be provided in order to do so, see: HMRC guidance: Make a late CJRS claim. Taxpayers can also

On 24 February 2021 the Chartered Governance Institute (CGI) issued updated guidance (2021 Guidance) which anticipated that for the duration of the governmental restrictions, general meetings and AGMs would be required to be held on a closed basis until at least 17 May 2021 and possibly until at least 21 June 2021. The 2021 Guidance was produced by a working group comprising, along with the CGI, the City of London Law Society Company Law Committee and Martin Moore QC, with the support of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC). It was also supported by

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note explains the changes introduced by the: • Early Years Foundation Stage (Miscellaneous Amendments) and Childcare Fees (Amendment) Regulations 2021, SI 2021/432 (in force from 1 September 2021) to the: • Early Years Foundation Stage (Learning and Development Requirements) Order 2007, SI 2007/1772 • Early Years Foundation Stage (Welfare Requirements) Regulations 2012, SI 2012/938 The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children aged 0–5 learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. As part of the national response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, local authorities are undertaking a wide range of essential and additional functions, while also contributing to local resilience planning and continued delivery of local services. This legislation has been introduced to support early years providers during the present outbreak of coronavirus in England, by ensuring sufficient flexibility in supporting the ability to easily

HMRC updated its guidance for employers on the coronavirus (COVID-19) job retention scheme (CJRS) on 4 April 2020, and some of the revisions it has made are relevant to this query. As initially drafted, the guidance for employers stated that any UK organisation with employees could apply for a grant under the scheme if they: • had created and started a pay as you earn (PAYE) payroll scheme on or before 28 February 2020, and • had a UK bank