Select committee: Economic Affairs Committee
Recommendation 20
3rd Report - Employment and COVID-19: time for a new deal
Published 14 Dec 2020
Paragraph 86
Economic Affairs Committee Employment and COVID-19 All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
The extended Job Retention Scheme will keep many people employed who might otherwise have lost their job. However, it will not protect every job and the social security system will need to provide an adequate safety net for those out of work. It will also need to provide strong employment support to help people back into work. The Government should use the time provided by extending the Job Retention Scheme to bolster Universal Credit and the social security system, so that it is able to meet the demands of the labour market crisis. Our July 2020 report on Universal Credit set out what should be done.
From: Economic Affairs Committee, 3rd Report - Employment and COVID-19: time for a new deal, paragraph 86, 14 December 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 12 February 2021 (deadline 14 February 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government's response sets out the support already provided, says it will "keep all impacts and policies under review", and states that further details of its economic response will be set out at the Budget.
- On the Universal Credit uplift, the Government says the £20 per week increase "is due to end in April 2021" and that it "will continue to assess how best to support people and the economy".
- On a new state entity to manage debt, it says it has "chosen not to pursue" TheCityUK's proposal, stating that lenders, not the Government, are best placed to support borrowers repaying guaranteed loans.
- On apprenticeship levy funds, it says employers already have 24 months to spend them, that it believes this "is sufficient", and that it does "not intend to make any changes to current arrangements".
- On Kickstart, it reports removing the minimum threshold of 30 vacancies on 3 February, so employers can apply directly or via a gateway organisation. It says it has "no plans" to let other organisations refer young people.