Furlough Extension a Possibility, says Gove

According to Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove, the UK government is “open-minded” to a furlough extension.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon calls for the job support scheme to last “for as long as it is needed”. She will attend a virtual meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the other devolved administrations to discuss emerging from the coronavirus pandemic.

The PM called the meeting for an opportunity to share ideas and information for the way to move forward. However, it previously postponed after criticism from the Scottish and Welsh first ministers on the “very rough” agenda. Ms Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford stated the need for a “meaningful” discussion, and requested more detail of the meeting’s schedule.

Ms Sturgeon does not want the meeting of the four nations to be purely “a PR exercise”. She says that getting “certainty over funding… is the bare minimum or our expectations”. The Scottish National Party (SNP) also urge the UK government to consider extending furlough “beyond September if this is required”. In addition, they want anyone who started jobs since 2 March 2021 to be eligible to benefit from the scheme.

Furlough, officially called the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), launched in March 2020, at the start of the pandemic. It is due to run until the end of September this year. Its aim is to minimise unemployment and job loss by covering up to 80% of an employee’s wages for hours they cannot work. It pays up to a maximum of £2,500 a month.

“A United Kingdom”

According to Mr Gove, the furlough scheme was a “huge success”, and he is “open-minded” on the SNP’s proposal. He also said the four nations’ “joint success” on fighting Covid had “shown the world what we can achieve as a United Kingdom”. We all need to work together in the difficult challenge of rebuilding the economy. Covid has had a damaging impact on public services and society.

It is vital to maintain links created during the pandemic, to continue to fight against Covid-19.

The virtual meeting will look at how different parts of the UK are emerging from the pandemic. It will examine the burdens it placed on the health service and the disruption to education. Coronavirus affected each area of the UK in different ways. They each have different levels of restrictions, and their own timetable for relaxing Covid measures.

The latest data is looking encouraging. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, the UK recorded no Covid deaths on Tuesday.

Although, there is still some debate as to whether England will end all Covid restrictions on 21 June, as planned.

Northern Ireland are gradually relaxing restrictions with reopening of indoor hospitality, non essential retail, and accommodation. Their next review date is 10 June.

Restrictions in Wales are due for review, but the health minister says easing of measures could be affected by a “very serious” cluster of the Delta variant.

The relaxing of measures in Scotland is already postponed in areas with increasing cases of Covid.

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