Chancellor of the Exchequer sets out how the Government will protect jobs in the North East

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak has outlined how the Government is planning to protect North East jobs following the coronavirus lockdown.

The region was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, with both a high number of cases and job losses.

In today’s (Wednesday, July 8) mini-budget statement, Rishi Sunak has announced that the Government will seek to support jobs by awarding businesses for retaining staff as well as providing additional funding for apprenticeships and a “Kick Start” scheme to help young people to find work.

He also announced that everyone in the UK will receive an “Eat out to Help Out” discount during August to boost the hospitality sector.

When speaking about the North East, Mr Sunak said: “We have set out our plan to protect, create and support jobs across the North East – levelling up opportunity as we safely reopen our economy.

“We’re supporting jobs through money for skills, traineeships and apprenticeships and our new £2billion Kick Start scheme for young jobseekers.”

The Chancellor also confirmed there will be further investment in new homes and transport links throughout our region.

He added: “With more than £64million in shovel-ready projects for the region, investment to build up to 4,500 homes and improvements to transport links we’re creating thousands of jobs.

“And with VAT cuts for the hospitality and tourism sector and our ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme, we’re protecting the 74,000 existing hospitality jobs in the North East.”

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