COVID MINI-BUDGET IN BRIEF: Key points of the summer statement at a glance

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COVID MINI-BUDGET IN BRIEF: Key points of the Chancellor’s summer statement at a glance

By Alex Sebastian For This Is Money

Published: | Updated:

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak answering a question in the House of Commons

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is delivering a special summer economic statement to MPs as he seeks to get the economy back on track after the lockdown prompted by the pandemic. Here are the key points of his address:

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  • Sunak began by saying the lockdown forced the economy to contract by 25 per cent as businesses shutdown and people stayed at home. 
  • The furlough scheme cannot and should not go on forever Sunak said. Calling for endless extensions is irresponsible and would give many people false hope, he added as he confirmed its October end date. 
  • Sunak said he knows people are ‘worried still’, anxious about losing their jobs, about unemployment rising.
  • He wants wants every person in this House and in the country to know that he will ‘never accept unemployment as an unavoidable outcome’.
  • He said £49billion has been provided to public services since the coronavirus crisis began.
  • The second phase of the Government’s plan is about jobs, with the third phase focused on rebuilding.
  • A new ‘jobs retention bonus’ will reward and incentivise employers who bring furloughed staff back. 
  • Explaining the new bonus scheme Sunak told the Commons: ‘If you’re an employer and you bring back someone who was furloughed – and continuously employ them through to January – we’ll pay you a £1,000 bonus per employee. 
  • ‘Its vital people aren’t just returning for the sake of it – they need to be doing decent work, Sunak said.
  • To get the bonus, the employee must be paid at least £520 on average, in each month from November to the end of January.
  • If employers bring back all nine million people who have been on furlough then it would be a £9billion policy.
  • A  ‘kickstart scheme’ will help young people secure jobs Sunak told the Commons
  • The scheme will directly pay employers to create new jobs for any 16 to 24-year-old at risk of long-term unemployment.
  • Providing jobs offer a minimum of 25 hours per week paid at least the national minimum wage taxpayers will pay young people’s wages for six months.         

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