HLAS

From 6 July 2022, some National Insurance Contributions (NICs) thresholds will increase. The primary threshold for 6 July 2022 to 5 April 2023 will rise to: £242 per week £1,048 per month £12,570 per year See Class 1 National Insurance thresholds for 2022 to 2023. To accommodate this change, payroll software, including HMRC's Basic PAYE Tools, will need to be updated. This may happen automatically, or you might need to take action. It is important that payments due to be made on 6 July 2022 or later are calculated using the correct thresholds. Employers who run their payroll early should check [...]

HMRC have updated their guidance setting out the procedure for reporting and repaying overclaimed Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) Grants. HMRC are also reminding sole traders and partners who have received these grants that there are potential penalties of up to 100% of the amount overclaimed under certain circumstances. A penalty of up to 100% would apply where the trader knew that they were not entitled to the grant and did not tell HMRC within a 90-day notification period. The law treats the failure as ‘deliberate and concealed’. This means that HMRC may charge a penalty of up to 100% [...]

The applications for this year's Small Biz 100 are now officially open! Small Business Saturday is once again highlighting 100 small businesses, one a day for the 100 days leading up to Small Business Saturday (3 December 2022). For the last 9 years, the 100 have not only received exposure on Small Business Saturday's social media channels and in the local and national press, but also joined the Small Business Saturday team in London at receptions in both Downing Street and The Treasury Drum with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Applications close on 30 June 2022. See: Small Business Saturday [...]

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is organising some short webinars during June, aimed specifically at small businesses and organisations. The webinars are free to attend and will help you understand what actions you can do to improve your own and your organisation's cyber security. Digital Loft: Cyber security for small organisations Find out how to improve your cyber security and get practical advice for businesses. Date: Thursday 16 June 2022 Time: 11:30 Register now for this cyber security event Digital Loft: Cyber Essentials Cyber Essentials helps you to guard against the most common cyber threats and demonstrate your commitment [...]

Nearly three million people are expected to have attended events supported by the Government’s Live Events Reinsurance Scheme by the end of the summer. The scheme, which closes in September, has paved the way for a busy summer events season, giving event organisers the confidence to invest in future events - safe in the knowledge they can insure against the most severe coronavirus-related risk, providing job security and boosting the economy. The Government acted as a reinsurer and guaranteed to make sure insurers offered products to event companies. Prominent insurers in the Lloyd’s Market including Munich Re, Beazley, Arch, Dale [...]

The world’s top graduates in subjects such as science, engineering and medical research will be able to bring their skills to the UK following the launch of a new visa route targeting graduates from prestigious universities such as Harvard, MIT, the Karolinska Institute and Kyoto University. From engineering to cyber security to advanced medical research, the UK will be able to welcome talented individuals to drive both economic growth as well as technological and medical advances. The race to attract the brightest and best international talent is fierce and inviting talented individuals from international universities will complement the pool of [...]

The Department for Transport is working with Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, to invest £12 million in innovative feasibility studies and pre-deployment projects. This competition is part of a suite of interventions by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE). UK SHORE aims to transform the UK into a global leader in the design and manufacturing of clean maritime technology. The Clean Maritime Demonstration Round 2 competition has two strands. Funding is available in strand 1 to develop feasibility studies for pre-deployment testing for innovative clean maritime technology demonstrations. Find out more about strand 1 of [...]

The Commercialising Connected and Automated Mobility competition is providing grants to help roll out commercial use self-driving vehicles across the UK from 2025, delivering convenience for consumers and making journeys safer, greener and more reliable. The competition will help bring together companies and investors so that sustainable business models be rolled out nationally and exported globally. Types of self-driving vehicles that could be deployed include delivery vans, passenger buses, shuttles, and pods, as well as vehicles that move people and luggage at airports and containers at shipping ports. Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, will work with the [...]

The Faraday Battery Challenge, part of UK Research and Innovation, and delivered by Innovate UK, is looking for projects that will deliver innovative developments in sustainable propulsion battery technologies. The competition will invest up to £25 million, subject to business case approval. This will support technologies with the potential to enter the automotive market within the next decade. The competition aims to move UK battery innovations from technological potential towards commercial capability. Additional aims are to develop and secure material and manufacturing supply chains for battery technologies in the UK. It is designed to support the research and development of [...]

An innovative app, allowing users of social media and professional networking sites, to better identify the hallmarks of fake profiles used by foreign spies and other malicious actors, and take steps to report and remove them, has been launched. In the last year, over 10,000 UK nationals from across society have been targeted on sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook. The use of fake profiles on social media and professional networking sites is occurring at scale. In the first half of last year alone, LinkedIn stopped 11.6m fake accounts at registration. The new app is part of the Centre for [...]