Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 2
2
A lack of certainty about the COVID-19 support schemes has undermined businesses’ ability to plan...
Conclusion
A lack of certainty about the COVID-19 support schemes has undermined businesses’ ability to plan effectively. We recognise that it is not easy to provide support to everyone considering the unique circumstances of each individual and business. However, the uncertainties around the timings and details of schemes have made a difficult situation more uncertain for those in need of urgent support. For example, HMRC could not provide clarity on whether the Job Retention Bonus scheme had been delayed or scrapped. Such lack of clarity may lead to unnecessary hardships for some businesses, who in good faith were relying on the payments from the scheme to meet some of their needs. HMRC’s lack of timely evaluation of schemes, such as the Eat Out to Help Out (EOTHO) scheme, to inform possible future iterations of the initiatives may also result in delays to their reintroduction and hinder their effectiveness. Recommendation: HMRC should, within six weeks of publication of this report, write to us to set out what lessons have been learned from the timing and content of its communications, such as about the future of the Job Retention Bonus scheme, and how those lessons might have improved the outcomes of the support schemes. 6 HMRC performance 2019–20
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
2. 1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Ta rget implementation date: March 2021 2.2 The government has had to balance providing longer-term certainty on the schemes with the need to be responsive to the evolving impact of COVID-19 and ensure economic support is tailored to the latest circumstances. The government's principle has always been that financial support will follow the path of the virus. This will sometimes mean reviewing policy at short notice where the nature of the pandemic has changed significantly, such as when the CJRS was extended in October 2020. 2.3 The government is committed to providing as much clarity and forewarning as possible on support arrangements. For example, in December 2020, details were announced of the extension of CJRS to the end of April 2021, on its current terms. At the Budget 2021, the Chancellor gave further certainty to businesses, allowing them to plan ahead with confirmation that the CJRS and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) would continue until September 2021 2.4 The department’s approach to operational communications to support successful implementation of the schemes has been based on four stages - announce, prepare, launch and support - with proactive communications across channels including stakeholder engagement and roundtables, emails to millions of customers, MPs, stakeholders and agents, social media awareness and calls to action, published guidance and webinars. This has ensured awareness of the schemes, that customers know how to check if they are eligible, what action they need to take and by when, and where they can find further support. This includes helping customers to prepare in advance for making claims under the schemes. 2.5 The department continues to adapt their approach based on customer and stakeholder feedback and will write to the Committee in more detail in March 2021, setting out this approach and lessons learnt.