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<p>The Government is committed to protecting people’s jobs and incomes as far as possible.
In March the Government announced the unprecedented Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme,
which has so far supported more than 7.5 million jobs and was recently extended to
October. Employers can claim for employees on any type of contract, including agency
workers.</p><p> </p><p>For individuals who need to rely on the safety net of the welfare
state, the Government has announced a significant package of temporary measures to
support them. These include a £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit (UC) standard
allowance, and for renters, an increase to the Local Housing Allowance rates so that
the UC housing element covers the cheapest third of local rents.</p><p> </p><p>In
order to ensure that support is targeted at families most in need, households with
capital, such as savings, above £16,000 will be ineligible for UC. In such cases,
it is likely that they will have alternative means of financial support.</p><p> </p><p>Individuals
who have lost their jobs may be entitled to other welfare support. If they have made
sufficient National Insurance contributions, they may be eligible for new style Jobseeker’s
Allowance, which does not take savings into account. More information is available
at</p><p><a href="https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/employment-and-benefits-support/"
target="_blank">www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/employment-and-benefits-support</a>.</p>
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