Last week the Chancellor announced changes to the Job Support Scheme (JSS) which will begin on 1st November and succeed the furlough scheme. The JSS has been subject to scrutiny by the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, which I chair, and I expect many businesses in Central Devon will look to it for support. Initially, the JSS was just going to support the wages of employees who worked at least a third of their usual hours, but this has been reduced to a fifth to help more businesses who are having to cut back. The Government will also pay a greater share of the ‘top up’ that employees will receive to their wages for hours not worked (initially it was evenly split, now the Government will cover 62% and the business just 5%). These improvements should save a significant number of jobs.
The Chancellor also announced that he would double the support available for the self-employed (another issue the Treasury Select Committee has scrutinised closely throughout the pandemic). Self-employed workers who are still trading, but face reduced demand due to Covid-19, will receive up to 40% of their average monthly trading profits, capped at £1,250/month.
In addition to increased nation-wide support, the Government has pledged grants of £2,100/week for businesses in areas that are under Tier 2 restrictions. My article last week focused on this regionalised approach, which I support because it doesn’t make sense to close businesses in areas where infection rates are 90% lower than others. But greater restrictions must be accompanied by greater financial support and these grants will make a big difference. While I am hopeful that the four local authorities in Central Devon will not face Tier 2 restrictions, it is reassuring to know that if they do, our businesses will receive these grants too.
The support packages outlined above are the kind of state assistance that only countries with strong economies have been able to provide. However hard we feel we have been hit, the UK has had options that the developing world sadly does not. Many have poor healthcare systems, little or no welfare safety net and economies that were already weak before the virus hit. I am very proud that the UK has led efforts to help the developing world combat Covid-19, most recently pledging £47.5 million to provide life-saving support for Rohingya refugees and to help Bangladesh with its response to the coronavirus pandemic and natural disasters. Some 860,000 Rohingya live in overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar (the world’s largest refugee settlement) and Covid-19 has made the perilous situation in these unsanitary camps even more dire. The funding will provide food, water, healthcare, sanitation and education, as well as care and counselling for those traumatised by violence in Myanmar. The UK has a long history of looking beyond our shores to help those in need and we must continue to do so with Covid-19.