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Mini-Budget 2020: who are the winners and losers?

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak - Simon Walker HM Treasury 
The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak - Simon Walker HM Treasury

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has told Parliament what the Government plans to do to help the economy to recover from the coronavirus crisis. Here is what he said and how it will affect us.

Winners

Workers

The Government will pay a £1,000 bonus to employers who take furloughed workers back on. The scheme applies to all previously furloughed workers who earn £520 a month or more. If all 9 million of them are rehired the policy will cost £9bn. "If you stand by your workers, we will stand by you," Mr Sunak told employers.

The bonus will be paid for workers still employed at the end of January 2021.

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A "kick-start" scheme will pay employers to create jobs for those aged 16-24. Employers will have to show that the jobs are "additional", "decent" and "good quality". The Government will pay wages for six months at a cost of about £6,500 per worker. The first new jobs should be created this autumn.

"I urge firms to hire as many as possible," he said. There will be no cap on the number of places.

The Chancellor announced a boost to traineeships. "We know they work and will pay £1,000 to employers to take trainees on," Mr Sunak said.

He said apprenticeships also worked and he would pay employers £2,000 for each new apprentice aged less than 25 for six months. There will be a new bonus of £1,500 for those 25 and over.

Mr Sunak said careers advisers helped the unemployed find work and he would ensure there were enough to help 250,000 people.

He added: "People on Universal Credit also need help to get back to work so we will double the number of work coaches." The Treasury said there would be 27,000 of them by March 2021. He said the Department for Work & Pensions would get an extra £1bn in funding.

Energy bill payers

Mr Sunak said he would support job creation by spending on infrastructure projects in all parts of country – "better roads, schools and hospitals" and a "green recovery". There will be a new green homes grant worth a total of £2bn. From September homeowners and landlords will be able to get vouchers worth up to £5,000 for improvements in energy efficiency, or up to £10,000 for low-income households.

He said 650,000 homes could be improved and households could save £350 a year on energy bills, while 140,000 jobs could be created.

Homebuyers

Mr Sunak said he would cut stamp duty. The threshold will be £500,000 until March 31 2021. The change will take effect immediately. The average saving will be £4,500 and nearly 90pc of buyers will pay no stamp duty.

Diners, cinemagoers etc

VAT on hot food, hotels, cinemas, zoos and other leisure spending will be cut to 5pc from next Wednesday until January 12. The Chancellor called the move "a £4bn catalyst for the hospitality sector".

There will also be 50pc "eat out to help out" discounts on meals in restaurants, pubs etc between Mondays and Wednesdays for up to £10 a head. Businesses will need to register online and can do so from Monday. They should receive the money back within five days, the Chancellor said.

Losers

Care home residents and their families

Although there is great pressure on the Government to announce plans for the future of care home funding, the Chancellor was silent on the matter today. Neither were there any measures to help schools to recover from the crisis.

Otherwise we couldn't identify any direct losers, if we disregard current and future taxpayers who will have to foot the bill and those who have just had to pay large stamp duty bills which new buyers will avoid.