Seven snippets from Sunak’s summer statement.
Today, The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, unveiled his plans to help kick-start the economy.
Here’s the key points from the chancellor’s coronavirus budget update:
- Job retention scheme for young people
- Training and apprenticeships
- Hospitality sector support
- Back to work bonus
- The housing market
- Sustainable housing
- Eat out to help out
"Kickstart” job creation scheme for young people.
Sunak announced the “kickstart” job creation scheme specifically for young people (aged 16-24). The government will essentially pay the wages of new young employees for six months. There will be an initial £2bn to fund hundreds of thousands of jobs, with no cap on the number of places that will be available.
Training and apprenticeships.
Jobcentre work coach numbers will be doubled. Apprenticeships will be supported by bonuses for companies. Organisations will receive a payment of £2,000 for each apprentice they take on. Companies taking on apprentices aged over 25 will be given £1,500.
Supporting the hospitality sector.
VAT on goods and services supplied by the tourism and hospitality sector will be cut from 20% to 5% until next January. This includes food, accommodation and attractions. Mr Sunak told the House of Commons that the six-month VAT cut on hospitality and tourism will run from 15 July until 12 January.
Back to work bonus.
The bonus aims to get as many people as possible off furlough and back into work. As such, the Chancellor announced a new job retention bonus for employers who bring back furloughed staff. Businesses will be paid a £1,000 bonus for every furloughed employee they bring back to work (the bonus will apply to employees paid enough to reach the lower earnings limit for paying national insurance). To be eligible, the employee must be paid at least £520 on average, in each month from November to the end of January.
The housing market.
Stamp duty has been scrapped immediately, up until March 2021, for all homes under £500,000, to help kickstart the stalled housing market. It’s anticipated that this move will benefit nine in ten home buyers - saving them on average £4,500.
A greener housing market.
As previously announced, the government will provide £3bn for decarbonising housing and public buildings as part of a 'green recovery'. Vouchers worth £5,000 and up to £10,000 will be made available for families who need financial support in order to retrofit homes with insulation, helping to cut carbon emissions. £1bn will also be allocated to make public buildings greener.
Eat out to help out.
From Monday - Wednesday, throughout August everyone will be able to access vouchers for up to 50% off eating out (up to a value of £10 per head). Restaurants will need to register for the scheme and it’s predicted that 130,000 businesses are expected to be eligible for the £10 Eat Out to Help Out scheme, including 85-90% of pubs that serve food. Participating businesses are able to claim the money back, with the funds in their bank account within five working days.
