Holes in new furlough scheme are already obvious

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has today announced changes to the business support scheme designed to compensate for the tighter COVID restrictions in certain parts of the country.

In reaction to the chancellor’s statement Prospect has argued that the holes in the scheme are already evident.

Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said:

“Without the detail of the further lockdown measures planned by the government, it is impossible to fully know whether this scheme will go far enough to help save jobs in the way the Chancellor says it will.

“But already there appear to be gaping holes, for businesses that are severely impacted but not legally required to close, and for self-employed people who lose work due to further restrictions and have yet again been totally ignored by the government.

“Prospect have always argued that if the government closes a business, or restrictions make it effectively unable to operate, then there must be action to support jobs and wages, including for the self-employed who are left without work. We need to see this principle broadly applied across the country for as long as it takes to weather this crisis.”