Recommendation 6

HM Government Acknowledged

Since the publication of your report, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has set out the Spring Budget 2021, announcing the next phase of economic support. The Budget seeks to protect the jobs and livelihoods of the British people by providing security and certainty for the hardest hit sectors and workers across the UK, and boosting investment and growth as the economy recovers. Considering the significant support confirmed at the Spending Review 2020 and the Spring Budget 2021, total support for the economy is £352bn across 2020/21 and 2021/22 (or around 17% of 2020 GDP). Once also accounting for support provided at Spring Budget 2020, which includes a step change in capital investment, total fiscal stimulus comes to £407 billion. The 2021 Budget lays the foundations for a strong recovery and greener economy, levelling-up the country and spreading prosperity across every part of the UK. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has already helped to pay the wages of people in 11.4 million jobs across the country, with more than £53 billion paid out in grants across the UK, protecting jobs that might otherwise have been lost. The Self- Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) has paid out almost £20 billion in grants to 2.7 million self-employed individuals whose businesses have been adversely affected by Covid-19. To support businesses and employees through the next stage of the pandemic, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the extension of the CJRS and SEISS until September. As part of this announcement, the Government has extended the Real Time Information (RTI) cut-off date for the CJRS from 30 October 2020 to 2 March 2021, so that those employed on 2 March 2021 are eligible for claims starting on 1 May 2021. Based on early estimates, this means around 2.4 million more employees, are potentially eligible for CJRS. In addition, SEISS will continue until September with a fourth and fifth grant, and around 600,000 more self-employed individuals may be able to qualify for the new SEISS grants based on their 2019–20 tax returns. This includes many new to self-employment in 2019–20 and brings the total who are potentially eligible to 3.7 million. The fifth and final grant opens for claims in July and will include a turnover test, known as a Financial Impact Declaration (FID), to ensure that the most generous support is targeted at those who need it most. The Government has also announced a new Restart Grant of up to £18,000 to over 680,000 business premises, giving small business owners the cash certainty they need to plan ahead and relaunch trading safely and effectively over the coming months. An additional £425 million of discretionary business grant funding on top of the £1.6 billion already allocated is being provided to English local authorities. This comes in addition to the extension of the previous VAT reductions and business rates reliefs for sectors heavily impacted by the pandemic, and the temporary £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit Standard allowance for a further 6 months. The Government has recently further announced a £500 one-off payment to provide support to eligible Working Tax Credit claimants.