Rt Hon Valerie Vaz MP calls on Chancellor to abandon his one-size-fits-all withdrawal of wage support across the entire economy
Rt Hon Valerie Vaz MP said:
“Chancellor Rishi Sunak is pushing ahead with his one-size-fits-all withdrawal of both schemes across the entire economy by the end of October. The Government should be targeting support where it’s needed most, not withdrawing it all in one fell swoop.
“New analysis has revealed that an estimated 6,500 people were still fully furloughed by their employer in the middle of August in Walsall South. These figures also show that 3,300 people in Walsall South had made claims under the Coronavirus Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) by the end of July.
“I urge the Government to think again and extend income support for jobs and businesses in the hardest-hit sectors and extend the schemes beyond the Chancellor’s 31 October cliff edge. Without this support, sectors vital to the West Midlands’ economic recovery such as highly-skilled manufacturing will suffer.”
“People will lose support even if their business are not yet back to normal or if they live in an area subject to new local restrictions – and regardless of how important the sector they work in is to the long-term health of the economy.
-ENDS-
Notes for Editors:
- On Wednesday 9 September 2020 Labour held an Opposition Day Debate on the Protection of Jobs and Businesses. The Government voted against Labour’s motion and it was defeated by 329 votes to 249. The full text of the motion was:
That this House calls for the government to abandon its one-size-fits-all withdrawal of the Coronavirus Job Retention and Self-Employment Income Support Schemes, and instead offer targeted income support to businesses and self-employed people in those sectors of the economy that have been hardest hit by the virus and are most in need of continuing assistance, and in those areas of the country which have been placed under local restrictions due to rising rates of infection.
- HMRC have released data on the cumulative total number of employments furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme by constituency. It has also released data on the number of employments furloughed on each day of the scheme, up to and including 30 June 2020. According to this data, the number of employments furloughed nationally on 30 June was 6,815,500 – 71% of the cumulative total of 9,601,700 employments furloughed nationally. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-august-2020
- The ONS Business Impact of Coronavirus Survey shows that between 15 and 28 June 2020, 17.4% of the workforce were on furlough leave. The most recent period (10 to 23 August 2020) show this figure at 10.9%. This suggests that of the cumulative total of employments furloughed nationally, around 44% were still fully furloughed in mid-August. https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/bulletins/coronavirustheukeconomyandsocietyfasterindicators/latest
