Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reintroducing the Job Retention Bonus; and when he plans to publish guidance on retention incentives.

The objective of the Job Retention Bonus (JRB) was to incentivise employers to retain employees between November, when the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was due to end, and the end of January 2021. However, the subsequent extension of the CJRS to April (now September) allowed employers to retain their staff during that period by covering 80% of the furloughed employees’ wages. Given this further extension to the end of September, the original policy intent of the JRB has fallen away.

The Government remains committed to deploying a retention incentive at the appropriate time.