In today’s Budget, the Chancellor continued his pledge to support jobs and incentivise employer training as the UK begins its slow path to recovery.
he Chancellor, Rishi Sunak MP, used his second Budget to provide stability in the jobs market by extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) until September 2021 and reaffirmed some of his key spending announcements on training support made at the Comprehensive Spending Review in December 2020.
Supporting jobs
The Chancellor pledged long-term job support by extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) to September 2021, something the CBI called for in the lead up to the Budget. Employer’s contributions to non-worked hours will increase to 10% July, and then 20% in August and September. This is a welcome extension for businesses; stable employer contributions to non-worked hours until the end of June brings much-needed clarity that will enable firms to plan better for a gradual reopening of the economy.
The £2bn Kickstart Scheme was also reaffirmed, citing the progress made in creating 120,000 Kickstart vacancies with 33 employers since the scheme’s creation. However, the Chancellor missed the opportunity to extend the scheme, which has been favourable amongst employers. Instead, he reaffirmed commitments made at the 2020 Spending Review on the £2.9bn Restart scheme, which will launch in Summer 2021, and the £1.4bn commitment to increase capacity in Job Centre Plus and double the number of work coaches, 10,000 of which are now in post.
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