Sunak continues to support wages

With the Government’s furlough scheme drawing to an end after October, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced plans to continue aiding workers. A six-month job support scheme has been set up that will see staff having to work just a third of their hours to receive a top-up from the Government. The Government will support jobs by only 33% of the total wage bill if working a third of their hours. The rest will be topped up by employers.

How it works

To demonstrate, an employee who usually earns £2,000 who is working 50% of their hours would receive £1,000 normal pay plus £333 extra from the employer and £333 from the Government.

Reactions

CPT Head of Policy, Alison Edwards, said: “Bus and coach operators have made use of the furlough scheme and it has provided a lifeline for many family run businesses across the country. We are pleased the Chancellor has listened to CPT and the wider business community and introduced measures that are designed to help avoid job losses as the furlough scheme ends.

“Many coach operators still face a challenging winter, their third in a row in terms of business income. The Chancellor missed an opportunity today to extend finance holidays for another 12 months, which along with bespoke support to recognise the challenges coach operators face with social distancing, would provide the coach sector with the breathing room it needs to trade their way out of this crisis in 2021.”

Joss Croft, CEO, UKinbound, said: “Undoubtedly, today’s announcement will help many tourism businesses and safeguard jobs, which of course is incredibly welcomed, however the desperate needs of British inbound tourism businesses, who bring international visitors to the UK and support tens of thousands of viable jobs, have once again been overlooked.

“These businesses have received no visitors since March, can’t pivot to capture domestic business, continue to be excluded from rate relief and grants and, with so few international visitors, won’t benefit from the extension of the VAT reduction. These businesses are sustainable and will be profitable again, once international tourists can return and are no longer impeded by measures such as quarantine. Whilst we welcome these measures, especially the Jobs Support Scheme, the Government’s one size fits all approach doesn’t work and is having a detrimental effect on these previously profitable companies, which generated £28 billion to the UK economy in 2019.”

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