Chancellor commits £500 million to extend job support schemes

05 Oct 2021

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has committed £500 million to renew job support programmes set up during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic after the end of the furlough scheme last month.

The Chancellor made the announcement during his speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. The Kickstart Scheme – which subsidises eligible jobs for young people on Universal Credit – will be extended by three months to March 2022. Additionally, the Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) scheme, which helps long-term unemployed people on Universal Credit, will be prolonged until September 2022.

The Treasury said that details will be confirmed at the Spending Review taking place alongside the Autumn Budget on 27 October.

Commenting on the Chancellor's speech, Tony Danker, Director General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said: 'Business shares the Chancellor's ambitious vision for a high-growth economy driven by science, technology and innovation.

'The Chancellor's emphasis on equipping young people for the world of work, from the Kickstart scheme to new AI scholarships, as well as helping people retrain for the jobs of the future, is the right approach.

'The only way to achieve the high-wage, high-skill economy we all want is to unlock productivity through higher investment and growth. All must rise together to avoid a further squeeze on living standards and to realise a better decade than the last.'