The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak continued with his campaign to support the business and jobs community today, 8 July 2020, as firms engage with the disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak and the measures taken to control infection.
The main thrust of his announcements during his Summer Economic update concerned his nominated Plan for Jobs 2020, details are listed below.
He also announced measures to support the hospitality and tourism industry including a novel voucher scheme and a temporary reduction in VAT. Again, details are provided in the following update.
In an attempt to boost the flagging property market Stamp Duty is being temporarily reduced in England and Northern Ireland. Separate announcements on this topic are awaited for Scotland and Wales who have their own Stamp Duty regimes.
Details of these announcements follow:
- Job Retention Bonus: employers that bring back an employee that was furloughed, and continuously employ them through to January 2021, will be paid a £1,000 government bonus per employee retained. Employees must be seen to be gainfully employed during this period and be paid at least £520 a month, on average, from November 2020 to January 2021. All furloughed employees returned to employment in this way will be available for the £1,000 bonus.
- Kickstart scheme: this new scheme will cover the wages (plus associated costs) of new jobs created for any 16 to 24-year-old – at risk of long-term unemployment – for six months. These will have to be new jobs, of at least 25 hours a week and paid the National Minimum Wage. Employers will need to offer kickstarters training and support to find a permanent job. Employers can apply to be part of this new scheme from next month – August 2020 with first jobs starting in the autumn. Government has made an initial £2bn available for this scheme, but there is no cap on the number of places made available.
- Apprenticeships: for the next six months government will pay employers to create new apprenticeships. The amount payable will be £2,000 for each apprentice. A new bonus to take on apprentices aged over 25 has also been announced. This will amount to £1,500 per appointment.
- Green jobs initiatives: as an incentive to create jobs in the green jobs’ market a number of new grants have been announced. From September 2020, homeowners and landlords in England will be able to apply for a grant to make their home more energy efficient. The £2bn Green Homes grant will cover at least two-thirds of the cost up to £5,000 per household. For low income households these grants will cover all costs up to £10,000. There will also be a further £1bn allocated to make public buildings greener.
- Boost for the housing market: Presently, in England and Northern Ireland (different amounts apply in the regions) no Stamp Duty Land Tax is payable on residential property purchases below £125,000. From today – for a temporary period to 31 March 2021 – this threshold is increased to £500,000. It is projected that this will reduce the average stamp duty bill by £4,500. Regional variations may apply. Purchasers buying a second residential property will still have to pay the 3% Stamp Duty Land Tax for property purchases up to £500,000.
- VAT reduction for hospitality and tourism: for the next six months VAT charged on food, accommodation and attractions (such as eat-in or takeaway food in restaurants, cafes, pubs, cinemas, theme parks and zoos) will see VAT reduced from 20% to 5%. This will apply from 15th July 2020 until 12th January 2021.
- Eat Out to Help Out discount: for the month of August 2020, meals eaten at any participating business Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, will be 50% off up to a maximum discount of £10 per head including children. To access the discount businesses will need to register and can do so through a website to be opened next Monday, 13 July 2020. Businesses will be able to claim the money back weekly with the money in their bank accounts within 5 working days.
As we manage the cautious steps to emerge from lock-down, still wary of COVID-19, the new incentives announced by Rishi Sunak should be welcomed.
As more details emerge on the various schemes announced they will be published accordingly.
