SUNAK PLEDGES £500M TO HELP PEOPLE GET BACK INTO WORK

CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak will commit more than £500m in fresh funding to help people back into work as he seeks to stem the continuing turbulence of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Sunak is shifting the focus on to getting people into new or better jobs as the UK Government comes under sustained pressure over a major squeeze on living standards.

He will use his speech at the Tory conference in Manchester today to set out his vision of shaping the economy around “the forces of science, technology and imagination”.

The Chancellor will pledge to “make the United Kingdom the most exciting place on the planet” through enhanced infrastructure, improved skills and scientific investment.

He will announce the new funding will be used to help workers leaving the furlough scheme and unemployed over-50s back into work, while the “kickstart” scheme for young people will also be extended.

But he has resisted expanding all of the support announced during the pandemic, with the furlough scheme ending and the £20-a-week uplift to Universal Credit falling away.

Fresh warnings of hardship have also been issued over the rise of the energy price cap and price hikes in shops.

Household budgets will sustain a further blow next April when national insurance contributions rise by 1.25% to help fund the NHS and social care.

Ahead of his first in-person speech at the conference as Chancellor, Mr Sunak said he is “ready to doubledown” on his promise to “do whatever it takes” to recover from Covid-19.

He said the furlough scheme protected 11 million jobs and the UK is “experiencing one of the strongest and fastest recoveries of any major economy in the world”.

He added: “But the job is not done yet and I want to make sure our economy is fit for the future, and that means providing the support and skills people need to get into work and get on in life.”

The kickstart scheme helping young people on Universal Credit will be extended to March next year under the measures.

Individuals who have come off furlough and are on Universal Credit will also be prioritised for help to find jobs under the “job finding support” scheme lasting until the end of the year.

The Treasury said more than £500m of new funding will be used, coming from the education and the work and pensions departments.

Further details will be set out in the upcoming spending review.