Last week, in his Summer Statement, the Chancellor set out a targeted ‘Plan for Jobs’ worth up to £30 billion that will spur the UK’s recovery from the Coronavirus outbreak. In my last Observer column, I highlighted my concerns for the job prospects of the 16 to 24 year-old age group due to the adverse effects of Coronavirus, and so I am delighted that the Chancellor has come up with a plan, not only for supporting jobs, but also creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs for young people through a new £2 billion Kickstart Scheme, to give them the best possible chance of getting a job.
The Plan includes a number of new policies and funding boosts for skills and apprenticeships, including a third year of education for school and college leavers and cash incentives for employers to retain employees and take on trainees and younger employees.
The Kickstart Scheme will directly pay businesses to create new, good and high-quality jobs for any 16 to 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. There is also good news for traineeships, with the Government paying businesses £1,000 to take on trainees and providing £111 million to triple the number of traineeships, which will consist of work experience placements, training and work preparation for 16 to 24 year-olds.
Apprenticeships, including for over 25 year-olds (apprentices of any age bring value to our economic recovery), are also given a boost with cash incentives for employers to hire new apprentices by providing £2,000 to employers for each new apprentice they hire under the age of 25 and £1,500 for apprentices over 25, helping more people into the workplace, whilst developing key skills.
As for school leavers, £101 million is being invested for the 2020-21 academic year to help 18 and 19 year-olds take high value Levels 2 and 3 courses where work opportunities are not available, giving young people the skills they need to find work in high value sectors such as engineering, construction and social care. East Sussex College has some fantastic courses ranging from childcare, health and social care to performing arts, catering, engineering, ICT and construction to travel and tourism amongst many, many more courses with opportunities for skilling up. These are in the areas where we need skills to boost our local economy in Hastings and Rye.
We also have to protect jobs as well as create new ones, so it was a relief to see the Chancellor’s measures to encourage employers to keep their employees on, through the Jobs Retention Bonus Scheme. This is a one-off payment of £1,000 to a business for every employee who was furloughed previously and who is successfully kept on continuously until January 2021. It is essential that local businesses and employers in Hastings and Rye stand by their employees and the Government is determined to stand by employers in helping them do so.
The temporary cut in VAT for the hospitality and tourism sectors will also help protect thousands of jobs locally, as will the launching of the new ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme, giving people up to 50 per cent off meals out (maximum of £10 per head). I am very much looking forward to making good use of this with my family and hope that Hastings and Rye residents will take advantage of this amazing scheme to protect the jobs in our local restaurants, cafes and pubs. After months of lockdown, it is definitely time for all of us to give ourselves a treat whilst doing our duty to ‘Eat out to Help Out’ Hastings and Rye!