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The Government has committed to continue paying 80 percent of salaries until the end of April 2021.
The scheme originally expired at the end of March, but the announcement suggests that the Treasury believes the economy will continue to struggle to cope with the impact of the coronavirus later in the year.
It comes just weeks after the Chancellor’s spending review in which he painted a bleak picture of UK finances due to the devastation caused by the pandemic.
The chancellor said the extension will provide businesses and employees across the UK with certainty about the New Year.
Mr. Sunak said, “Our business and worker support package remains one of the most generous and effective in the world, helping our economy recover and protecting livelihoods across the country.
“We know that premium companies prioritize certainty, so it is right that we allow companies to plan ahead regardless of the path the virus takes, so we provide certainty and clarity by extending this support, as well as implementing our Plan for jobs “.
The Chancellor confirmed that the Budget will be on March 3 when he will expose the next phase of his plan to “fight the virus and protect jobs.”
The Treasury also confirmed that distressed businesses will have until the end of March to access the government-guaranteed Covid-19 business loan schemes. These were to close at the end of January.
Commerce Secretary Alok Sharma added: “Expanding government-backed loan schemes will give businesses across the UK the finance they need to support, protect and create jobs as we rebuild better after the pandemic”.
The government said its coronavirus job retention scheme [CJRS] The scheme has protected 9.6 million jobs across the UK and more than a million companies have accessed loans to help them weather the crisis.
The licensing scheme
In detail
The government will continue to pay 80 percent of employees’ wages for hours not worked until the end of April.
Employers will only be required to pay wages, national insurance contributions (NICS) and pensions for hours worked; and NICS and pensions for hours not worked.
The eligibility criteria for the UK-wide scheme will remain unchanged and these changes will continue to apply to all decentralized administrations.
In his spending review last month, Sunak warned that Britain was facing an “economic emergency” when it announced a wage freeze for most public sector workers and cuts to foreign aid.
In his vision of post-Covid Britain, there was a £ 4bn “leveling off” fund, but he warns that unemployment could hit 2.6 million first and borrow more than £ 760bn over four years.
