In yesterday’s Summer Statement, the Chancellor announced a series of policies aimed at supporting jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic crisis. In this update we will explain some of these new initiatives and how they could help your business.
Job Retention Bonus
Potentially, the most significant measure in Rishi Sunak’s “Plan for Jobs” was the Job Retention Bonus. Currently the government plans to bring the furlough scheme to an end in October. As an incentive for businesses to rehire furloughed employees, the government has promised a one-off payment of £1000 for every furloughed employee who is rehired and kept until the end of January 2021, provided they are earning over £520 per month.
Kickstart Scheme
The Kickstart Scheme aims to help unemployed young people get jobs. The scheme will open for applications in August with the first jobs starting in autumn. Current plans expect the scheme to run till December 2021. They will fund six month work placements for 16-24 year olds on universal credit. Payments will cover 25 hours per week at minimum wage plus national insurance and pension contributions. There will be an extra £1000 per trainee employee that employers take on from this age bracket, £2000 for every new apprentice under 25 and £1500 for every new apprentice 25 and over.
Support for the hospitality sector
The hospitality and tourism industry have suffered more throughout the pandemic so special measures have been put in place to subsidise the sector and to encourage consumers to spend money in these parts of the economy. To this end, there will be a VAT cut from 20% to 5% on restaurants, cafes, pubs, accommodation and attractions like theme parks and cinemas.
In addition the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme offers a 50% discount up to a value of £10 per head on food and drink in restaurants every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in August.
Infrastructure
Furthermore, there has been a large infrastructure package promised to stimulate jobs. £5.6bn has been promised for general infrastructure with a further £1.1bn allocated to make public buildings greener and £2m promised to make homes greener in the form of £5000 vouchers to fit homes with insulation (£10 000 for poorer households).
In his statement the Chancellor said it is unlikely that these will be the last of the coronavirus interventions so to stay abreast of the situation subscribe to our Policy Updates and Friday Newsletter to hear about new plans when they are announced.