Today the UK Government has announced a raft of additional measures to support businesses and people across the United Kingdom to help provided certainty over the winter.
Delyn MP, Rob Roberts welcomes the move by the UK Government which means Wales will receive and extra £600 million pound uplift in funding as well as additional support for millions more workers, and more support for the self-employed.
Commenting on the announcement Rob has said:
“I thoroughly welcome the latest announcement by the UK Government. It evidences that Wales is not being short-changed in any way.
“Thanks to the UK Government thousands of jobs across Wales are still protected.
“This latest uplift of £600 million pounds takes the UK Governments financial support package in Wales to £5 billion the since March. It is now vital that the Welsh Government ensure the money gets the right places quickly.”
Workers across the UK will now benefit from increased support with a five-month extension of the furlough scheme. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CRJS) now runs until the end of March with employees receiving 80% of their salary for hours not worked.
In addition to the extension of the CRJS, millions more workers will be supported through the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS). This will be increased, with the third grant covering November to January calculated at 80% of average trading profits, up to a maximum of £7,500.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak said:
“I’ve always said I would do whatever it takes to protect jobs and livelihoods across the UK - and that has meant adapting our support as the path of the virus has changed.
“It’s clear the economic effects are much longer lasting for businesses than the duration of any restrictions, which is why we have decided to go further with our support.
“Extending furlough and increasing our support for the self-employed will protect millions of jobs and give people and businesses the certainty they need over what will be a difficult winter.”
On top of this the UK Government has announced:
- An extension to mortgage payment holidays.
- Plans to extend existing government backed loan schemes and the Future Fund to the end of January, and an ability to top-up Bounce Back Loans.
For more information on this you can visit Rob’s coronavirus information pages on his website by going to https://www.rjroberts.co.uk/coronavirus-advice