Nus Ghani, MP for Wealden, welcomes the Chancellor’s Plan for Jobs announced today.
- VAT will be cut for six months for all businesses in the hospitality, accommodation and attractions industries, including up to 610 in Wealden.
- The public is encouraged to ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ with new voucher scheme to encourage people to support local restaurants throughout August.
Today, the Chancellor unveiled a much-needed boost for tourism and hospitality businesses in Wealden, as part of his Summer Economic Update to kickstart the economy post-coronavirus.
Nus Ghani has welcomed the measures, which will see VAT for hospitality, accommodation and attraction businesses cut from 20% to 5% for six months. The move is designed to support the sectors which have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus crisis, helping businesses to recover and boosting the number of jobs across the country. Up to 610 businesses in Wealden could benefit from the measures.
Additionally, the Government will partially substitute the price of people’s meals out at restaurants, pubs and cafes with The Eat Out to Help Out scheme. The scheme will entitle everyone to a discount of up to 50% on their meal, up to a maximum of £10 per person, on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout August. Businesses can claim the money back from the Government, which will be paid within five working days. Up to 225 businesses in Wealden could benefit from this scheme.
Nus Ghani said: “The recent months have been incredibly challenging for businesses across Wealden. Tourism and hospitality sectors are at the heart of our local economy and these measures will provide a timely and much-needed boost. This unprecedented plan will support people to find jobs, as well as create new jobs and protect jobs in hard-hit sectors.”
“I hope that everyone in Wealden will answer the call to Eat Out to Help Out. This fantastic new voucher scheme, along with the cut in VAT, is the much-needed lifeline many businesses have been calling for.”
Other schemes unveiled today include:
- Job Retention Bonus Scheme. To encourage employers to keep their employees on, a one-off payment of £1,000 will be paid to a business for every employee who was furloughed previously and who is successfully kept on continuously until January.
- A new £2 billion Kickstart Scheme, to give young people the best possible chance of getting a job. The scheme will directly pay businesses to create new, decent and high-quality jobs for any 16-24-year old at risk of long-term unemployment. Funding available for each job will cover 100 per cent of the National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week, for six months in total, plus an admin fee, for a grant of around £6,500 per placement.
- Youth Offer - a guaranteed foundation of support to all young people on Universal Credit.
- £101 million to help 18- and 19-year olds to take high value courses at Levels 2 and 3 where work opportunities are not available.
- Paying businesses £1,000 to take on Trainees.
- Increase the eligibility of Traineeships to include young people qualified up to Level 3 (advanced – equivalent to 2 good A Level passes), up from Level 2 (intermediate – equivalent to achieving 5 GCSEs at 9-4) currently.
- £2,000 to employers for each new apprentice they hire under the age of 25 and £1,500 for any apprentice aged over 25.
- Doubling the number of work coaches and boosting the DWP’s rapid response service to get people back on their feet and into work.
- Tripling the number of places available through Sector-Based Work Academies, supporting those who are out of work with the new skills they need to re-enter the jobs market.
- Expanding the National Careers Service to help more young people find work or training.
- Temporarily scrapping stamp duty. From 9 July 2020 until 31 March 2021, the threshold at which stamp duty applies will be increased from £125,000 to £500,000.
- Green Homes Grant, to upgrade the energy efficiency of homes across England. £2 billion will be provided to allow people to apply for a voucher, to fund at least two-thirds of the cost of upgrading the energy performance of their homes – up to a maximum of £5,000. Low-income households will be eligible for up to 100 per cent of government funding, up to £10,000.
- £50 million to decarbonise social housing, reducing energy bills by an average of £200 for some of the poorest households in society.
- £1 billion to improve the energy efficiency of public sector buildings, helping to deliver on our ambitious climate change targets. The scheme will offer grants to public sector bodies including schools and hospitals to fund both energy efficiency and low-carbon heat measure.
More information is available on the Government website here and here.
