UKFT welcomes the huge investments announced by the Chancellor in jobs and skills. The Job Retention Bonus Scheme will help businesses bring back staff and get supply chains moving again.

The new Kickstarter programme and the extra funds for Apprenticeships and Traineeships should help attract new entrants to the fashion and textile sector. We look forward to seeing the full details of each new programme and working with the industry to make sure businesses make full use of the support available.

We now need the government to continue its programme of investment by changing public procurement rules so that more PPE, uniforms and technical textiles are made here. Making this change would deliver new jobs, would help rebuild the economy and, with significant concentrations of manufacturing across the country, would help deliver the government’s levelling up agenda. We also await news on our request to government for a relaxation in the rules of the export funding programme to help our companies restart their export sales.

Job Retention Bonus

The government will introduce a one-off payment of £1,000 to UK employers for every furloughed employee who remains continuously employed through to the end of January 2021. Payments will be made from February 2021 and further details about the scheme will be announced by the end of July.

Kickstart Scheme

The government will introduce a new Kickstart Scheme in Great Britain – a £2 billion fund to create 6-month work placements aimed at those aged 16-24 who are on Universal Credit and are deemed to be at risk of long-term unemployment. Funding available for each job will cover 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week, plus the associated employer costs.

Payments for employers who hire new apprentices

From 1st August 2020 to 31st January 2021 the government will introduce a new payment of £2,000 to employers in England for each new apprentice they hire aged under 25, and a £1,500 payment for each new apprentice they hire aged 25 and over.