New Jobs Support Scheme 'favourable for York'
The York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce has cautiously welcomed the Chancellor's plans.
The Jobs Support Scheme announced today (24th September) by the Chancellor has received a cautious welcome in York.
Replacing the furlough scheme, the new plan by Rishi Sunak will see the Government top up a person's salary.
This means a worker will have work for at least a third of their normal hours, which the employer will pay for. The government and the employer will then top up the last two-thirds of the salary, with the government providing a third of that money.
The Vice President of York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, Laurence Beardmore, said: "it's a favourable move to begin with. We've put a lot of pressure on the Government to do more, and we've largely got what we were hoping for. However, the devil will be in the detail and we need to look closely at that.
"It does seem to encourage people to keep as many of their staff on as possible, on perhaps on the lowest number of hours (the third), rather than making some people redundant and giving other staff more hours.
"I think the Chancellor has targeted small and medium companies with this, which is great. However, it would've been good if this announcement had been made a week earlier".
"Larger companies have probably already enacted their redundancy process, because it's 45 days from the end of furlough"
"We've got to be reactive and keep the tempo up in these changing times. Those timescales were clear to people, so it's just a shame that it came a week later as some jobs could have been saved".
Andrew Newton owns Twiggy's Play, an indoor play centre in Thirsk. Reacting to today's announcement he told Greatest Hits Radio York: "The children's play industry is a viable sector in so many ways, both for the wellbeing of children and parents. Children need the opportunity to safely let off steam and they need activity through exercise and play.
"We're hoping that the new Jobs Support Scheme will help, but we need staff in at the same levels all the time. We can't vary staff because of safety reasons, so I hope the new plan will cover those staff so that when we don't see the footfall coming in we still get supported.
"The targeted support for small businesses in November is absolutely fantastic. The VAT lowering (extension of 15% VAT cut for the hospitality and tourism sector) is very welcome as well. We need help because we're possibly looking at 30,000 jobs going in the indoor play area sector by the end of the year, and I'm not sure how this scheme will help with that going forward".
Measures announced by Mr Sunak included:
– The new job support scheme, which will be targeted at small and medium-sized firms, with larger companies only eligible if turnover has fallen due to the crisis.
– The existing self-employed grant will be extended on similar terms and conditions as the new job support scheme.
– The temporary 15% VAT cut for tourism and hospitality will be extended until the end of March.
– A new payment scheme will give more breathing space for more than £30 billion of deferred VAT payments, allowing them to make 11 interest-free payments in 2021-22 rather than a lump sum at the end of March.
– A “pay as you grow” measure will extend the repayment terms for bounceback loans from six to 10 years.
– Firms which have taken out coronavirus business interruption loans will see the Government guarantee extended for up to 10 years.
– All loan schemes will be extended until the end of the year.
Rishi Sunak said it is “fundamentally wrong” to hold people in jobs that only exist inside the furlough scheme. He told the Commons: “Our economy is now likely to undergo a more permanent adjustment. The sources of our economic growth and the kinds of jobs we create will adapt and evolve to the new normal.
“And our plan needs to adapt and evolve in response. Above all, we need to face up to the trade offs and hard choices coronavirus presents and there has been no harder choice than to end the furlough scheme.
“The furlough was the right policy at the time we introduced it, it provided immediate short-term protection for millions of jobs through a period of acute crisis.
“But as the economy re-opens it is fundamentally wrong to hold people in jobs that only exist inside the furlough.”