Chancellor Rishi Sunak has today announced a “plan for jobs” in an attempt to kick start the UK economy as the country emerges from the COVID-19 crisis.
We have summarised the main points from his statement:
- A “jobs retention bonus” of £1,000 per employee will be paid to employers who bring back workers from furlough and keep them employed until January 2021
- Employers will be eligible to a payment of £1,000 per person to take on new trainees and £2,000 each to encourage them to hire apprentices
- £2bn is being made available for the “Kickstart” scheme which will pay employers to create new jobs for 16-24 year olds. The jobs must be for a minimum of 25 hours per week and paid at at least the national minimum wage
- £1.2bn has been allocated to the Department for Work and Pensions “to support millions of people back to work”
- Stamp duty will be removed from house buying transactions below £500,000 (previously £125,000) until 31 March 2021
- A new £2bn green homes fund is being created to enable homeowners and landlords to apply for energy efficiency vouchers. The scheme is aimed at creating 140,000 jobs
- There will be a 6 month cut in VAT from 20% to 5% for the hospitality and tourism sectors – covering food from restaurants, cafes and pubs, accommodation in hotels, B&Bs and caravan sites, and attractions such as cinemas, theme parks and zoos
- A “eat out to help out” scheme is being introduced giving people a 50% discount, up to £10 off per head, on meals and soft drinks, if they eat out between Monday and Wednesday in August
