On July 8th 2020, Rishi Sunak presented his plans to Parliament to outline how the government will boost job creation in the UK, and help businesses throughout the country, to reinvigorate their businesses and the economy as a whole. These announcements are short-term solutions that have end dates, so are relevant only whilst the country needs to regenerate income for their businesses and thus the economy.
Details of the policies announced on 8th July 2020 for the UK
During the announcement, Rishi Sunak's "Plan for Jobs" was announced, this entails:
- Job Retention Bonus - this has been set to help encourage companies to keep on furloughed workers. They will receive a £1,000 bonus per employee who is kept employed in the company through to the end of January 2021.
- Direct help to find work and gain skills people need to get a job
- Support for the hospitality and accommodation sectors, as well as attractions.
- Creating jobs with action to get the property market moving, to increase and bring forward infrastructure investment, as well as more investment in helping homes become more green, warm, and cheaper to heat.
- Payments for employers who hire new apprentices. The government will introduce a new payment of £2,000 to employers in England for each new apprentice they hire aged under 25, and a £1,500 payment for each new apprentice they hire aged 25 and over, from 1st August 2020 to 31st January 2021. These payments will be in addition to the existing £1,000 payment that is provided.
- Eat out to Help out scheme - this entitles every diner to a 50% discount of up to £10 per head on their meal, at any participating restaurant, cafe, pub, or other eligible food service location. It will be valid Monday - Wednesday on any eat-in meal for August 2020. The business will be fully reimbursed for the 50% discount.
- Temporary VAT cut for food and non-alcoholic drinks, as well as accommodation & admission to attractions in the UK - From 15 July 2020 to 12 January 2021, VAT for these categories will be reduced from 20% to 5%.
- Temporary Stamp Duty Land Tax Cut - The Nil Rate Band of Residential SDLT in England and Northern Island will be raised from £125,000 to £500,000 for completions up to 31 March 2021.
- Green Homes Grant - a £2bn Green Homes Grant, which provides at least £2 for each £1 homeowners and landlords spend to make their homes more energy efficient, up to £5,000 per household. For those on the lowest incomes, the scheme will fully fund energy efficiency measures up to £10,000 per household.
- Short-Term Home Building Fund extension - to support small and medium sized house builders, who are unable to access private finance, there will be a boost to the short-term home building fund of £450m. This will provide development finance to smaller firms, which is expected to support around 7,200 new homes in England. A proportion of this fund will be reserved for firms using innovative approaches to housebuilding, such as "modern methods of construction".
There has also been talk of the third phase of the plan, which will be set out in Autumn. This will include measures to support longer-term recovery with a Budget and Spending Review, which will detail further plans to invest in public services, support innovation and growth-enhancing infrastructure with a National Infrastructure Strategy, to seize global opportunities, and to level up opportunity across every region and nation of the UK.This is just a summary of some of the policies which were announced on 8th July by the Chancellor, that we believe will help businesses throughout the UK, in different industries, to start to rebuild.
