Main points from today
- The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, today set out a ‘Plan for Jobs’ that will ‘spur the UK’s recovery from the Coronavirus outbreak.’
- The ‘Plan for Jobs is the second part of a three-phase plan to secure the UK’s economic recovery from coronavirus. The third phase will focus on rebuilding, with a Budget and Spending Review in the autumn.
- The full press briefing is here. The highlights are as follows:-
- 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 employed as of 31 January 2021.
- A new £2 billion Kickstart Scheme will also be launched to create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across the country.
- Businesses will be given £2,000 for each new apprentice they hire under the age of 25. This is 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.
- A £3 billion green investment package that could help support around 140,000 green jobs and upgrade buildings and reduce emissions.
- 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 from Monday to Wednesday every week throughout August 2020. It applies for a maximum discount of £10 per head.
- VAT on food, accommodation and attractions will be cut from next Wednesday until 12 January 2021 from 20% to 5% – a “£4bn catalyst” for the sector designed to protect 2.4 million jobs. The cut covers food from restaurants, cafes and pubs, accommodation in hotels, B&Bs and caravan sites, and attractions such as cinemas, theme parks and zoos.
- A temporary increase to the Nil Rate Band of Residential SDLT (Stamp Duty) from £125,000 to £500,000 until 31 March 2021.
- £5.8 billion will be spent on shovel-ready construction projects to get Britain building.
Latest Guidance (employment and business)
CJRS guidance can be found here:-
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme guidance is here:-
Check if you can claim a grant through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme
Latest Guidance (health)
No new guidance today.
Coronavirus outbreak FAQs: what you can and can’t do after 4 July
Updated 24 June 2020
Schools
No new guidance today.
The collections are:-
Guidance for schools: coronavirus (COVID-19) – What school leaders, teachers and school staff need to do during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Early years and childcare: coronavirus (COVID-19)
Further and higher education: coronavirus (COVID-19)
Early years and childcare: coronavirus (COVID-19)
General Guidance
The general coronavirus guidance starts here:-
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
