Question to the HM Treasury:

What fiscal steps he is taking to help provide new employment opportunities to people affected by the covid-19 outbreak.

We have protected jobs by extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employment Income Support Schemes out to September 2021.For those people who unfortunately lose their jobs, we are helping them to find new jobs by doubling work coaches, and with additional tailored support such as our flagship Kickstart and Restart programmes.

To further support employment and retraining, at Budget we announced an additional £126 million for traineeships in England to enable more than 40,000 places over the next academic year, and we are increasing payments (to £3,000) for employers who hire new apprentices.