Budget 2021: Rishi Sunak ignores pleas for ‘Shop Out to Help Out’ vouchers

THE Chancellor has ignored please for a “Shop Out to Help Out” scheme to save the high street.

Reports last month suggested the Government was looking at issuing Brits shopping vouchers to spend in stores – but the scheme was left out of today’s Budget.

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The Treasury had considered giving Brits shopping vouchers to spend on the high street

Retailers have suffered huge blows over the past year as lockdown restrictions has forced them to temporarily close for months on end.

Influential think-tank The Resolution Foundation said last week that the Chancellor must pump £30billion into business bailouts, furlough and a Shop Out to Help Out voucher scheme to aid the high street.

The shut downs have taken a devastating toll on many, despite them being allowed to operate online and stay open for click and collect.

Many brands have gone bust with thousands of jobs axed or put at risk.

Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Monsoon Accessorize and Laura Ashley are just some of the retailers that won’t be welcoming back customers once lockdown lifts.

Meanwhile, department store Debenhams will only reopen stores to clear stock and John Lewis has axed eight stores.

The idea of shopping vouchers to encourage shoppers to return to the high street was also suggested last time lockdown was lifted.

When quizzed on a shopping voucher scheme on Times Radio last week, Rishi Sunak said: “We get lots of suggestions in the Treasury and I’ll have a look at that as well.

“But I think what we saw last time is that consumption does recover quite strongly when we reopen things.

“We didn’t know what would happen last time but that’s actually what did happen which is good and could give us some optimism for the future.”

What is the Budget?

THE Budget is when the government outlines its plans for tax hikes, cuts and things like changes to the minimum wage.

It’s different to the Spending Review, which sets out how much public cash will go towards funding certain departments, devolved government’s and services, such as the NHS.

The Budget is read out in the House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It will be Rishi Sunak’s second Budget as Chancellor.

Mr Sunak’s first one in March last year has been dubbed the “coronavirus Budget” after it focused on supporting Brits financially through the crisis, rather than the government’s “levelling up” agenda as promised in the 2019 general election.

Normally, the Budget is held once a year but the unprecedented circumstances of the pandemic in 2020 saw Mr Sunak give a “mini-budget” in the Commons on July 8.

Instead, Mr Sunak unveiled a £5billion pandemic rescue fund for the high street in the Budget.

Shops, pubs and restaurants will be able to claim grants of up to £18,000 to help them stay afloat when they are allowed to reopen.

scheme aims to help Britain’s economy recover from a horror year brought on by the Covid pandemic.

Non-essential retail businesses, which can open in mid-April, will be able to receive grants of up to £6,000 per premises.

Announcing the scheme, Mr Sunak said: “We’ve been providing businesses with direct cash grants throughout the recent restrictions. These grants come to an end in March.

“I can announce today that we’ll provide a new Restart Grant in April, to help businesses reopen and get going again.”