TOO LITTLE TOO LATE
Fears that Chancellor’s financial package is not enough to protect millions of workers
RISHI Sunak’s new jobs rescue plan comes “too late for many” and could leave millions out of work by Christmas.
Unions and experts have criticised the Chancellor’s Job Support Scheme, replacing furlough from November 1.
Len McCluskey of union on Unite warned it “could d see millions more facing poverty and joblessness in coming weeks”.
RISHI Sunak finally unveiled the Covid-19 rescue package desperate businesses had been waiting for yesterday — and swiftly found himself under fire for delivering too little, too late.
The Chancellor will bring an end to furlough under his Job Retention Scheme, which still has four million workers on it, on Halloween.
And saying he is now focused on saving “viable” jobs, he will launch the Job Support Scheme on November 1, with taxpayers topping up the pay of staff working at least a third of their normal hours.
With 700,000 jobs already lost amid the pandemic, Mr Sunak had been urged to extend the lifeline furlough scheme and offer targeted aid for particularly hard-hit sectors such as hospitality and tourism.
And the consensus yesterday was his new scheme failed to do enough for at-risk workers – comparing poorly with other countries such as Germany and France.
Institute of Fiscal Studies director Paul Johnson warned it was “significantly less generous” than furlough, adding: “It is clear many jobs will be lost over the coming months.”
And Unite leader Len McCluskey feared it “may come too late for far too many and leaves gaps that could see millions more facing poverty and joblessness”.
Labour said the plan should have been announced earlier, potentially saving some jobs. Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds told MPs: “This comes too late for many who have already lost their job because the businesses employing them believed there would be no support following the end of next month.”
There was also criticism over the worry created by delaying the news until several days after Boris
Johnson announced the 10pm curfew for the hospitality sector.
Claims of a rift with the Prime Minister began circulating as he was not in the Commons for Mr Sunak’s crunch lunchtime statement. Downing Street insisted there was “absolutely not” a problem between the PM and the Chancellor.
Under the Job Support Scheme,
dubbed the Winter Economy Plan, firms will continue to pay staff for hours they work. For hours not worked, the Government and employer each pay a third of their equivalent salary.
It means staff only able to do shorter hours will still be paid two-thirds of the hours for the time they cannot work. Employees must be working at least a third of their usual hours to qualify and are guaranteed at least 77% of total pay.
By contrast, under the Kurzarbeit (short-working) scheme in Germany, which existed before the pandemic, employers pay wages while staff are at work and the state covers up to 80% when they are not.
And unlike the UK, the scheme has always allowed part- time working – with staff getting full pay for the hours they work.
The government then meets a percentage of the hours they cannot work, usually rising from an initial 60% to 80% after six months.
Unveiling his plan, Mr Sunak said: “The Government will directly support wages of people in work, giving businesses who face depressed demand the option of keeping employees on shorter hours rather than making them redundant.”
He refused to say how many jobs he believed would be lost, or name the industries where jobs were “viable”.
Employers will not be allowed to make anyone on the scheme redundant.
Mr Sunak spoke as the UK recorded 6,634 new coronavirus cases yesterday – the highest daily toll yet. Public Health England medical director Yvonne Doyle
said: “This is a stark warning. We must all follow the new measures.”
Hospitality firms have been hit hard with four in five stopping trading in April and 1.4 million staff on furlough, the highest proportion of any sector.
Food and Drink Federation chief executive Ian Wright warned: “Only by continuing a targeted furlough scheme while the current restrictions remain will we avoid mass long-term unemployment.”
Trade body UKinbound’s chief executive Joss Croft added: “The Government’s one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. Inbound tourism businesses have again been overlooked.” But CBI chief Dame Carolyn Fairbairn said: “These bold steps will save hundreds of thousands of viable jobs this winter.”
Passengers arriving from Denmark , Iceland, Slovakia and Curacao after 4am tomorrow must selfisolate for two weeks.
RISHI Sunak presented his winter economy plan as a lifeline for workers.
But the Chancellor’s offer of help has come too late and is too little.
Once you strip away the packaging, it is a significant reduction in state support.
As a result, millions of workers still face the grim prospect of redundancy this winter.
The job support scheme is far less generous than billed, with the Government funding just over a fifth of a worker’s wages – and only for the next six months.
This just creates another cliff edge in the New Year, adding to insecurity for staff while failing to give certainty to employers.
Support for self-employed workers has been slashed and there was nothing to plug the gap for those ineligible for the original scheme.
Nor was there anything for those in leisure, hospitality and culture, who stand to lose their jobs through no fault of their own due to the additional lockdown measures.
This is an unprecedented crisis but there was no vision to improve training, invest in new industries or create a green economy.
We needed a Marshall Plan to rescue our economy. We got an offering from Private Pike.