“Mini” budget delivers major support for employment
As the Chancellor started his speech at the House of Commons on Wednesday 8th July, several questions remained as to how he planned to support the economy as it started to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. The spotlight was also firmly on jobs and how they would be affected by the winding down of measures, such as the jobs protection scheme. However, today’s “mini-budget” delivered several messages that could bring renewed hope to both businesses and employees alike.
Here is a summary of employment-related announcements from today’s speech.
Winding down
The Chancellor, Mr Sunak acknowledged that wage support schemes such as furlough must be carefully wound down to get people back to work and protect growth in the economy. He then went on to outline several measures that would take up a majority of the announcements, putting the protection of workers and creating new employment in a post-Covid world at the heart of his budget speech, including help and support for young people and getting people off furlough and back into their jobs as soon as possible.
Incentives
Whilst acknowledging that financial support cannot last forever, Mr Sunak unveiled new plans for a Government-funded £1,000 job retention bonus for every furloughed worker that is brought back to work and retained until at least the end of January, a support package worth an estimated £9bn.
He also outlined a new £2bn Kickstart Scheme that is hoped to create government-subsidised jobs for unemployed young people. The Scheme will enable employers to offer a six-month placement for people aged between 16-24 and the Treasury will cover the National Minimum Wage for each young employee for up to 25 hours a week.
Further support
In a move designed to get businesses opening up more opportunities for traineeships, he announced a further £111m to be invested with the hope of tripling the number of traineeships available. This equates to businesses being offered a £1,000 per trainee payment - which will no doubt be most welcome to many employers at this time.
Plus, for the next six months, the Government will pay businesses up to £2000 for every new apprentice they hire and will also pay £1,500 for every new apprentice above 25.
An extra £1bn will be invested in the Department for Work and Pensions to help people get back to work.
If you would like any advice relating to the Chancellor’s announcements, or any other employment issue, contact the team at Downs Solicitors to see how we can help.
