The Treasury Committee’s second report of its inquiry into the economic impact of coronavirus, The challenges of recovery, makes a number of recommendations to the government:
a targeted extension to the job retention scheme along with other targeted measures to support those who need assistance;
a plan for how viable SMEs struggling with debt can be recapitalised, to avoid prolonging the recession;
extensions to universal credit, and a review of adequacy of, and eligibility for, statutory sick pay;
an initial road map to be published at Autumn Budget 2020, to set out plans to put government finances on a sustainable footing, noting that tax rises too early are likely to stifle economic recovery;
a genuine strategy with clear objectives and measurements on the government’s commitment to ‘levelling up’ across regions of the UK;
consideration of further measures to ‘stimulate consumption’ in the economy (on top of the temporary VAT changes in the hospitality sector);
the government should ‘throw its diplomatic weight’ behind the global community to invest in public health systems in developing countries, to ensure that testing, treatment and vaccines are made as widely available as possible; and
consideration of lifting the triple lock on the state pension, in light of the likely spike in average earnings growth in 2021 due to the job retention scheme having artificially depressed average earnings in 2020.
The committee also expresses disappointment that the government ‘did not implement its recommendations [in the committee’s first report] to help the million-plus people that are still affected by the significant gaps in the government’s support schemes’.
Mel Stride, chair of the Treasury Committee summed up the recommendations: ‘The key will be assisting those businesses who, with additional support, can come through the crisis as sustainable enterprises, rather than focusing on those that will unfortunately just not be viable in the changed post-crisis economy.
‘This requires a very difficult set of judgements; it is where careful analysis and creative thinking will be critical.
‘As the committee has said throughout the crisis, the chancellor must continue to show flexibility in his approach. We hope that the Treasury’s unwillingness to implement the recommendations from our first report is not a sign of how it will respond to this one.’
Miles Dean, head of international tax at Andersen in the UK, said: ‘Walking around the city, it’s clear that unless the government set out their roadmap to survival and recovery, then very soon it will be too little too late for many businesses in many different sectors.
‘Arguing over the Internal Market Bill and whether the government is breaching international law is a sideshow we could all do without. Economic carnage is around the corner and we need comprehensible thinking, a detailed strategy and bold leadership.’
The Treasury Committee’s second report of its inquiry into the economic impact of coronavirus, The challenges of recovery, makes a number of recommendations to the government:
a targeted extension to the job retention scheme along with other targeted measures to support those who need assistance;
a plan for how viable SMEs struggling with debt can be recapitalised, to avoid prolonging the recession;
extensions to universal credit, and a review of adequacy of, and eligibility for, statutory sick pay;
an initial road map to be published at Autumn Budget 2020, to set out plans to put government finances on a sustainable footing, noting that tax rises too early are likely to stifle economic recovery;
a genuine strategy with clear objectives and measurements on the government’s commitment to ‘levelling up’ across regions of the UK;
consideration of further measures to ‘stimulate consumption’ in the economy (on top of the temporary VAT changes in the hospitality sector);
the government should ‘throw its diplomatic weight’ behind the global community to invest in public health systems in developing countries, to ensure that testing, treatment and vaccines are made as widely available as possible; and
consideration of lifting the triple lock on the state pension, in light of the likely spike in average earnings growth in 2021 due to the job retention scheme having artificially depressed average earnings in 2020.
The committee also expresses disappointment that the government ‘did not implement its recommendations [in the committee’s first report] to help the million-plus people that are still affected by the significant gaps in the government’s support schemes’.
Mel Stride, chair of the Treasury Committee summed up the recommendations: ‘The key will be assisting those businesses who, with additional support, can come through the crisis as sustainable enterprises, rather than focusing on those that will unfortunately just not be viable in the changed post-crisis economy.
‘This requires a very difficult set of judgements; it is where careful analysis and creative thinking will be critical.
‘As the committee has said throughout the crisis, the chancellor must continue to show flexibility in his approach. We hope that the Treasury’s unwillingness to implement the recommendations from our first report is not a sign of how it will respond to this one.’
Miles Dean, head of international tax at Andersen in the UK, said: ‘Walking around the city, it’s clear that unless the government set out their roadmap to survival and recovery, then very soon it will be too little too late for many businesses in many different sectors.
‘Arguing over the Internal Market Bill and whether the government is breaching international law is a sideshow we could all do without. Economic carnage is around the corner and we need comprehensible thinking, a detailed strategy and bold leadership.’
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