The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak has addressed the House of Commons with his plan to get the UK economy back on its feet.
Below is a brief summary of the measures:
Bonuses For Firms That Bring Back Furloughed Workers
The Chancellor announced he will pay companies £1,000 for each furloughed employee they bring back. He said the scheme could cost up to £9bn if every furloughed employee was retained by their firms, telling companies “If you stand by your workers, we will stand by you.”
Announcing the scheme, the chancellor also said: “If you’re an employer and you bring back someone who was furloughed – and continuously employ them through to January – we’ll pay you a £1,000 bonus per employee.
For businesses to get the bonus, each employee must be paid at least £520 on average, from November to 31st January – the equivalent of the lower earnings limit in national insurance.
£3bn Green Home Grant
There will be grants available to cover 2/3 of the cost of insulating private residences of up to £5k per household. For low income households the grants will cover the full cost up to £10k. This will make 650,000 homes more efficient, support around 140,000 green jobs and reduce carbon emissions.
Housing
House prices have fallen for first time in 8 years, sales of homes unsurprisingly dropped by over 50% in May. To boost the housing market, the Chancellor announced a cut to stamp duty, with immediate effect until the 31st March 2021, there will be no stamp duty to pay on transactions below £500k.
Hospitality and Tourism
80% of businesses in the hospitality and tourism industry stopped trading in April, as a result 1.4m workers were furloughed, the largest amount of all sectors. To restart this sector, VAT for hospitality and tourism, such as food, accommodation and attractions (cinema, theme park and zoo’s), will be cut for 6 months to 5%. This will take effect from next Wednesday 15th July, and will continue to Jan 12th 2021. This is a £4bn catalyst for the sector to protect 2.4m jobs.
In addition, throughout August a new “Eat Out To Help Out” discount will be introduced, this will give a 50% discount, capped at £10-per-head for every diner eating out between Monday-Wednesday in August. To claim, businesses will need to register online from next Monday.
New Kick-Start Scheme For Young Employees and Bonuses For Employers Who Hire Apprentices
The Chancellor confirmed the kickstarter scheme, a £2bn programme to pay the wages of 16-24 year-olds starting new jobs that provide training and support. It will cover 100% of the minimum wage for a maximum of 25 hours a week — with firms able to top up wages.
Clarification of all of todays announcements are expected over the coming days, as always we will update you as we know more. For more information visit our Coronavirus Information Hub.
