Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of jobs that will be created in the UK in 2021.

In its November Economic and Fiscal Outlook, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast employment to be 31.9 million in 2021. The OBR noted that the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), along with other new measures, was expected to reduce the level of unemployment by around 300,000 in the second quarter of this year, relative to what would have happened in their absence.

The Government’s Plan for Jobs aims to both create and protect jobs, through packages such as, a £3 billion green investment package that could help support around 140,000 green jobs, a £1 billion public buildings programme, and £5.8 billion for shovel-ready construction projects.

The Government has also launched a £2 billion Kickstart Scheme, creating hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people at risk of long-term unemployment, as well as a guaranteed foundation of support for young people on Universal Credit.

The Budget on the 3 March will set out the next phase of the plan to tackle the virus and protect jobs.