Unemployment

Debate between Lord Agnew of Oulton and Lord Randall of Uxbridge

Thursday 11th June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the projected level of unemployment over the next 12 months.

[The Minister of State, Cabinet Office and the Treasury (Lord Agnew of Oulton) (Con) [V]]

My Lords, we must accept that the coronavirus will have a very significant adverse impact on our economy. The Office for Budget Responsibility reference scenario assumes that the unemployment rate will rise to 10% in the second quarter of 2020. However, the Government have announced unprecedented support for public services, workers and business to help mitigate the impact of the current economic emergency. As the OBR said,

“the cost of inaction would ultimately have been … higher.”

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con) [V]]

I thank my noble friend for his Answer. Sadly, we will hear of many redundancies in the coming weeks and months. Can I ask Her Majesty’s Government to be bold in initiating a range of green infrastructure projects that will provide much-needed jobs as well as improving the nation’s quality of life?

Covid-19: Self-employed

Debate between Lord Agnew of Oulton and Lord Randall of Uxbridge

Thursday 23rd April 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Con)]

Is my noble friend the Minister able to give any clarity on the timescale of the rolling out and when the funds will be available, particularly for the self-employed? He may well be aware that there are numerous scams targeting the self-employed and a great deal of uncertainty among them.

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, I am very much aware of the urgency and speed with which these things need to be dealt. From midnight on 20 April, 185,000 businesses have claimed under the coronavirus job retention scheme to protect 1.3 million jobs, which totalled £1.5 billion. On the small business grant funding, as of 20 April around £6 billion had been paid out in grants, which is about half the total funding. Some 490,000 businesses have benefited—so the money is going out. I completely accept that it could go out quicker, but the rate of escalation is increasing.