Updated: 18 December 2020
Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the furlough scheme will be continuing until 30 April 2021.
The scheme will continue to operate in its current form, paying up to 80% of a person’s monthly wage up to cap of £2,500.
There will be a review of the policy in January 2021 and the scheme may then change.
The extension to furlough means that the Job Retention Bonus and the JSS schemes have been scrapped – for now.
The government says the furlough scheme is being extended to bring parity to the support available across all countries in the UK. Some countries have announced individual lockdowns at different times and may continue with local restrictions over the coming months, regardless of English policy.
About 9.6 million people have used the furlough scheme since it was launched in March 2020, costing the treasury £40bn so far. To survive the next few months, the Bank of England will be injecting an extra £150bn into the economy and interest rates will remain at 0.1% this month.
No details yet for SEISS extension
We do not yet know whether the self-employed income support scheme (SEISS) will also be extended. This week the chancellor announced that the top up available to eligible self-employed workers would increase to 80% of earnings for the duration of the November lockdown.
As new developments are announced we will update you with new information. For now if you need any support contact partners@rjp.co.uk