£2BN YOUTH JOBS PLAN
Chancellor to unveil Kickstart Scheme to help the under-25s
RISHI Sunak will today announce a £2billion plan to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs for young people across the UK.
The support for youth unemployment will be part of a package of measures in the Chancellor’s coronavirus mini-budget that are designed to help Britain bounce back from lockdown.
The Kickstart Scheme – modelled on the previous Labour government’s youth employment programmes – will give the under-25s a chance of getting Government-subsidised jobs for six months.
Under the plan, employers will be able to offer a six-month work placement for young people aged between 16 and 24 who are claiming Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment.
But the Government will only fund 25 hours a week at the national minimum wage of £8.20 an hour for under-25s, with employers topping up wages as they see fit.
Speaking ahead of his speech, Sunak said: “Young people bear the brunt of most economic crises but are at particular risk this time because they work in the sectors disproportionately hit by the pandemic.
“Youth unemployment has a long-term impact on jobs and wages and we don’t want to see that happen to this generation. So we’ve got a bold plan to protect, support and create jobs – a Plan for Jobs.”
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Unions have been pushing hard for a jobs guarantee for young workers who lose their jobs during this crisis.
“The Chancellor has made a good first step but we’ll be checking the small print to ensure every job provides proper training and a bridge to steady employment. Employers should work with unions to avoid job displacement, create good opportunities for all young workers and guarantee they are paid at least the real living wage.”
The Chancellor is also expected to announce £111million of investment to triple the number of traineeships in England in 2021, an extra £32million for the National Careers Service and a £2billion home insulation scheme for England.
The England-only measures should equate to extra funding for the Scottish Government under the Barnett formula.
Last night, Scottish Finance Secretary Kate Forbes teamed up with her Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts to urge the UK Government to ease the financial restrictions on devolved governments so they can better respond to the coronavirus crisis.
Forbes, Wales’s Rebecca Evans and Northern Ireland’s Conor Murphy are calling for assurances that will give them freedom to switch capital funding for things like construction projects to day-to-day revenue spending. Given the lockdown on construction over the last few months, the Treasury is said to be open to considering the proposal.
Forbes said: “At the moment, any extra money spent bolstering services and supporting the economic recovery must be taken from other areas. That creates risks for our essential public services, jobs and businesses.
“I am therefore calling on the Chancellor to ease these rigid fiscal rules and give us the flexibility we need to properly address the monumental challenges our economy is facing.”
She added: “I also want to see greater ambition in the level of investment in our economy. Last week, the Scottish Government set out a proposal for an £80billion UK-wide stimulus package.
“What is needed at this time of crisis is bold and practical policies that will boost consumption, promote investment and protect jobs.”
The Chancellor is also expected to announce a cut in stamp duty for homes up to £500,000 in England. In Scotland, land and property transfer tax is devolved and set by the Scottish Finance Secretary in the budget.