Chancellor’s Update – Furlough, Eat Out To Help Out, & Kickstart Scheme
As the world eases itself out of lockdown, there are lots of changes ahead.
Yesterday Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered his summer statement. His focus was on recovering from the economic harm caused by Coronavirus.
The furlough scheme has been a lifeline for lots of employers and, while this is great, people are worried about whether they can bring employees back to work from the scheme.
The Chancellor has announced a bonus for employers who are able to bring furloughed employees back to work. Here’s the way it works:
- Employees return to work from furlough;
- They remain employed until at least January 2021;
- The employee earns at least £520 a month on average from November to the end of January; and
- Your business get £1,000 bonus
The bonus is available for each and every employee that you’ve brought back from the furlough scheme, as long as you’ve met the criteria
But that’s not all!
The hospitality and tourism industries have been hit the hardest by lockdown.
They’ve now been granted a cut in VAT, from 20% to 5 for the next 6 months. So, who does this cut in VAT apply to? The businesses this will impact:
- Eat-in or hot takeaway food;
- Non-alcoholic drinks from restaurants, cafes, and pubs;
- Accommodation in hotels, B&Bs, campsites, and caravan sites; and
- Attractions like cinemas, theme parks, and zoos.
And there’s still more!!
There’s a new scheme called “Eat out to help out” which offers diners 50% discount on their bill. Which is aiming to attract more people to eat out during August. If this is something you’d like to do, here’s the details:
- Business can register from Monday13th July (website details to follow) to participate;
- Diners can get a maximum of £10 discount per head for everyone in their party (even the kids);
- The discount is available for meals and non-alcoholic drinks;
- The scheme is available for people eating out between Monday and Wednesday for the whole of August;
- Each week in August, participating businesses can then claim back the money; and
- The money claimed will be in your business account within five working day.
And finally!
The “kickstart scheme”. This is a £2bn (yes £2 BILLION) fund that is available for 16 – 24 year old people to complete a 6-month work placement. Let’s look at what this scheme includes:
- The payment will cover the national minimum wage for up to 25 hours per week, plus National Insurance and pension contributions;
- £1,000 grant per trainee for employers in England;
- £2,000 grant for employers in England taking on an apprentice under 25 from 1st August;
- £1,500 grant for employers in England taking on an apprentice over 25 from 1st August;
- Doubling the number of work coaches in the Job Centre to give extra help to young people;
- A £150m boost for the “flexible support fund” to help job seekers;
- £101m to help fund studies for people aged 18 – 19 in England if they are unable to find work;
- £95m to help unemployed people, who are on benefits for more than 3-months, via the Work and Health Programme;
- £40m to help find jobs for people who have been out of work for less than 3-months; and
- £32m (over the course of 2 years) to create a National Careers Service in England, which will provide advice on work and training.
If you need to speak with us about any aspect of the furlough scheme or about whether or not you need to consider making redundancies or anything people related please contact us.