a "kickstart" scheme that will pay employers to train 16–24 year-olds "at risk of long-term unemployment" An "Eat Out to Help Out" scheme to encourage customers back into restaurants, bars and cafes: customers to receive a 50% discount, worth up to £10 a head, on meals at participating outlets from Mondays to Wednesdays throughout August 2020 A reduction in value-added tax from 20% to 5% for the hospitality sector – food outlets, accommodation and attractions – from 15 July 2020 to 12 January 2021. A "green homes grant" to help make properties more energy efficient; the scheme to be extended to public sector buildings Reaction Responding to the statement, Anneliese Dodds, the Shadow Chancellor, accused Sunak of putting off the "big decisions" by choosing to present a statement rather than a full budget. Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, said the bonus scheme "should be targeted in the areas which most need it, not across the piece", while Bridget Phillipson, Labour's Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, wrote to HM Revenue and Customs to ask them to publish their modelling for the job bonus scheme. The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) warned that taxes would have to rise to pay for the support measures put in place by the government. The IFS also suggested that raising the stamp duty threshold would adversely affect first-time buyers, who are largely exempt from paying it, while benefiting sellers who could take advantage of the situation with higher property prices. Helen Miller, deputy director of the IFS described first-time buyers as "a group that might actually be made worse off by the policy". The warning of tax rises was echoed by David Gauke, a former Conservative Party minister with HM Treasury, who said that either tax increases or spending cuts would be needed to pay off a £40bn public deficit built up during the pandemic. In a series of letters sent to the Chancellor before the statement was delivered, Jim Harra, the director of HM Revenue and Customs, questioned whether two of the schemes announced were value for money. He raised concerns about paying companies a £1,000 bonus to retain furloughed workers, a scheme estimated to cost the Treasury £9.4bn, and whether the 50% meal discount, estimated to cost £0.5bn, was cost effective, describing both as "sound policy rationale" but the effectiveness of which would be difficult to measure. In response,