Rishi Sunak announced that his plan has a clear goal:
To protect, support and create jobs. To give businesses the confidence to retain and take steps to hire new staff. To create jobs in every part and every sector of the country. To give young people a better start, then before. To give people everywhere the opportunity of a fresh start.
How will this be put into practice?
Job Retention Bonus
As part of the plan to support jobs, a #Job Retention Bonus will be introduced to help firms keep furloughed workers. UK Employers will receive a one-off bonus of £1,000 for each furloughed employee who is still returned to work and employed as of 31 January 2021, earning a minimum amount.
Kickstart Scheme
A new £2 billion Kickstart Scheme is being launched to create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across the country. Those aged 16-24, claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment, will be eligible.
Funding available for each six-month job placement, with the offer to cover 100% of the National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week and employers will be able to top the wage up.
Employment Support Schemes (ESA’s)
A total of £1.6 billion will be invested in scaling up employment #support schemes, training and apprenticeships to help people either looking for a job or returning to the market.
Young people who have been identified amongst some of the worst hit by the #covid19 pandemic should benefit from this.
What does this include?
- Businesses given £2,000 for each new apprentice they hire under the age of 25. (In addition to the existing £1,000 payment the Government already provides for new 16-18-year-old apprentices and those aged under 25 with an Education, Health and Care Plan).
- £111 million on traineeships in 2020-21 ensuring more young people have access to high quality training.
- £17 million of funding for sector-based work academy placements in 2020-21
- £900 million for work coaches, increasing the numbers to 27,000;
- Extra £32 million investment in the National Careers Service.
Creating jobs
#vacancies
The plan is also to create tens of thousands of jobs through bringing forward work on a budget of £8.8 billion of new infrastructure, decarbonisation and maintenance projects, across several sectors.
A £3 billion green investment package will help support around 140,000 green jobs and upgrade buildings and reduce emissions, offering further reduction in the carbon footprint.
Green Homes
Homeowners and landlords in England will be able to apply for a vouchers from a £2 billion Green Homes Grant pot, offered to pay for all your #property green improvements. (such as loft, wall and floor insulation) which could also save some households hundreds of pounds a year on their general energy bills while creating thousands of jobs for tradespeople.
A £1 billion programme will make public buildings, including schools and hospitals, greener, helping the country meet its ambitions of achieving Net Zero by 2050, whilst investing in our future prosperity.
Get building!
In addition, £5.8 billion will be spent on shovel-ready construction projects to get Britain building. This includes:
- £1.5 billion for hospital maintenance and upgrades
- £100 million for our local roads network
- over £1 billion to start to rebuild schools in the worst condition in England, plus £760 million this year for key maintenance work on schools and FE colleges
- £1 billion for local projects to boost local economic recovery in the places that need it most
- £142 million for court maintenance to repair around 100 courts across England.
#Protectjobs
The plan will also protect jobs. The tourism and hospitality sectors are one of the largest employers in the UK and have been severely and in some cases catastrophically impacted by the #covid19 pandemic due to necessary and forced closures to protect the public health.
#EatOuttoHelpOut
It is reported that 80% of hospitality firms stopped trading in April and 1.4 million hospitality workers were placed on the furloughed scheme. Which early indications show that this is the highest proportions of any sector.
The aim is to ensure there is enough demand, and as businesses reopen this will be key to helping these businesses recover and have the confidence to protect jobs rehire, and move past the pandemic.
To encourage people to safely return to eating out at restaurants the Government’s new Eat Out to Help Out, discount scheme will provide a 50% reduction for sit-down meals in cafes, restaurants and pubs across the UK and will take effect on Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Wednesday every week throughout August 2020, subject to certain criteria.
#VAT reduction on tourism and hospitality
The rate of VAT applied on most tourism and hospitality-related activities will also be cut from 20% to 5%. This will save households around £160 per year on average and, together with the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme, will support over 2.4 million staff at over 150,000 businesses, helping them recover and reopen after the Covid-19 lockdown.
The hope is that this will give these businesses the confidence to maintain their staff and drive more people through the door as business activity kick-starts again.
#Stamp duty
The temporary increase to the Nil Rate Band of Residential SDLT (Stamp Duty) from £125,000 to £500,000 is aimed at driving growth and support jobs across the housebuilding and property sectors, enabling the housing market to get underway, and try and secure confidence in the property market.
Further guidance on the measures announced will be provided when available. Please see https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rishis-plan-for-jobs-will-help-britain-bounce-back for up to date information.
For further advice on how the measures will impact your business contact Kaajal Nathwani.
