No help for forgotten freelancers

The Chancellor today has announced a raft of measures to try to help the economy recover but there were a number of glaring omissions.

Included were plans to give businesses a bonus for getting people off furlough, help to get young people into work, and grants for home improvements. But there was no help yet again for the thousands who have fallen through the cracks of the government’s schemes, and there was no ambition on new infrastructure such as new nuclear.

Mike Clancy, Prospect general secretary, responding to the Chancellor’s statement, said:

“The Chancellor started his statement saying that ‘nobody will be left without hope’, but there was nothing in his new package for the millions of forgotten freelancers and others who have been left with no hope and no support for months.

“There were welcome measures to support jobs in the package today, but the government still failed to acknowledge that there are some sectors that need extra support so they can retain viable jobs until they can reopen.

“And while we welcome the home insulation plan, today was also a missed opportunity to ramp up the scale of investment in green industries and jobs by committing to large scale projects like new nuclear.

“The Chancellor will have an opportunity to fix these issues in his budget in Autumn, he must listen and act to secure a green economic recovery that leaves nobody behind.”