The Chancellor delivered his Summer Economic Update in Parliament today (8 July), which outlined a package of measures to support jobs in every part of the country, give businesses the confidence to retain and hire, and provide people with the tools they need to get better jobs.
Key points to note:
Job Retention Bonus
To help firms keep on furloughed workers, UK Employers will receive a one-off bonus of £1,000 for each furloughed employee who is still employed as of 31 January 2021.
Kickstart Scheme
A new £2 billion scheme will also be 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 will cover 100% of the National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week – and employers will be able to top this wage up.
Employment and support schemes
A total of £1.6 billion will be invested in scaling up employment support schemes, training and apprenticeships to help people looking for a job.
Creating jobs
The plan will also create tens of thousands of jobs through bringing forward work on £8.8 billion of new infrastructure, decarbonisation and maintenance projects. In addition, £5.8 billion will be spent on shovel-ready construction projects to get Britain building.
Eat Out to Help Out
To encourage people to safely return to eating out at restaurants the Government’s new discount scheme will provide a 50% reduction for sit-down meals in cafes, restaurants and pubs across the UK from Monday to Wednesday every week throughout August 2020.
VAT
The rate of VAT applied on most tourism and hospitality-related activities will be cut from 20% to 5%.
Stamp Duty
A temporary increase to the Nil Rate Band of Residential SDLT (Stamp Duty) from £125,000 to £500,000 has been introduced until 31 March 2021.
Full details of the announcement can be found here: https://bit.ly/CXPlanForJobs.