Rishi Sunak is set to announce details on the future of the government’s furlough scheme today as some businesses start preparing to head back to work in the next few months.
The chancellor will address MPs in the House of Commons this afternoon (May 12) to reveal how the Job Retention Scheme will work within prime minister Boris Johnson’s three-step sketch plan to re-open the economy.
The Job Retention Scheme offers cash grants to employers who have had to furlough employees as a result of the pandemic and associated lockdown.
The scheme covers up to 80 per cent of an employee's regular wages and was last month extended by Mr Sunak to run until the end of June, having originally been intended to last until May.
Mr Sunak will address the commons against a background of growing calls to extend the scheme, although he has previously warned the scheme is “not sustainable” in its current form.
It has been reported he was eying to extend it to September, albeit with a maximum payout of 60 per cent of salary.
Last night (May 11) the government published “step by step” guidance for employers looking to use the scheme, urging firms to “get help, protect your business, save jobs”.
It asked businesses to ensure they were eligible to make a claim before going through the process and warned payments could be withheld or may need to be repaid in full if the claim was based on dishonest or inaccurate information.
Yesterday Mr Johnson described the furlough scheme as “unlike anything seen internationally” and a “remarkable feature” of the government’s coronavirus response, adding it was “absolutely right” to support workers, but stopped short of revealing its future.
Within the prime minister’s new plan for lifting lockdown, from tomorrow (May 13) people in England will be allowed to spend more time outdoors and those who cannot work from home have been urged to return to work within social distancing rules and avoiding public transport.
Measures to open schools and leisure businesses — such as pubs and cinemas — will come in early June and early July respectively if the numbers support it.
imogen.tew@ft.com
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