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A fifth of Britain’s workforce has been laid off, at a staggering cost of £ 8 billion.
Downing Street revealed yesterday that the government is now paying the wages of 6.3 million workers under the scheme. Coronavirus-affected employers are entitled to claim taxpayers’ money to pay 80 percent of each staff member’s wages, with a limit of £ 2,500 per month.
The scheme is designed to prevent companies from having to permanently lay off staff as companies stop due to the pandemic.
Major streets across the country, including those in Worcester, remain empty as closed stores leave millions out of work or out of work.
Secretary of Labor and Pensions Therese Coffey, pictured on Downing Street in March, said the number of Universal Credit claims between March 16 and April 30 was six times higher than normal
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: ‘Since launch [on April 20], 800,000 employers have used the job retention scheme to obtain 6.3 million jobs. That’s a total value of £ 8 billion. ”
The plan was originally established to cover the salaries of the temporarily laid off staff until the end of May, but was then extended for a month.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that more than 1.8 million claims have been received by Universal Credit.
Secretary of Labor and Pensions Therese Coffey said: ‘From March 16 to the end of April, we have received more than 1.8 million Universal Credit claims, more than 250,000 Job Applicant Subsidy claims and more than 20,000 claims of Subsidy of Employment and Support.
In general, this is six times the volume that we would normally experience and in one week we had a tenfold increase.
UC’s claims rate appears to have stabilized at around 20,000 to 25,000 per day, which is double the standard week prior to Covid-19. ”
The minister said his department had issued nearly 700,000 advances to claimants who felt they could not wait for their routine payment.
She said the vast majority of these received money within 72 hours. Applicants for benefits and UC were told in March that they will face no sanctions for three months if they do not seek work because of the crisis.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak promised there will be no “cliff edge” limit for the scheme, but acknowledged that that level of spending was not “sustainable” in the long term.
But Miss Coffey urged them yesterday to “continue looking for work wherever they can do it.”
A new website was created to advertise job opportunities: jobhelp.dwp.gov.uk.
It currently has 58,200 vacancies. The surprising cost of the licensing plan and UC’s additional claims show just how far the coronavirus crisis has hit the economy.
Strict rules of social distancing have meant that most stores have been forced to close, along with bars and restaurants.
Many other companies have been affected, forcing employers to request government bailouts to prevent workers from being fired.
Last night, Foreign Minister Rishi Sunak promised that there will be no “cliff edge” limit for the scheme, but acknowledged that that level of spending was not “sustainable” in the long term.
Sunak told ITV that news ministers were looking for ways to reduce the scheme, which will run until the end of June, and make it easier for people to return to work in a “measured” way.
He emphasized: ‘For anyone anxious about this, I want to assure you that there will be no cliff in the licensing plan.
I am working as we speak to discover the most effective way to reduce the scheme and make it easier for people to return to work in a measured way.
As some scenarios have suggested, we are potentially spending as much on the licensing scheme as we do on the NHS, for example.
“Clearly, that is not a sustainable situation, so as soon as the time is right, we want people to go back to work and the economy to flare up again.”
The high cost of the scheme increases the possibility of higher taxes after the crisis. Labor has warned that the wealthiest will have to shoulder most of the burden.
Lord Lamont, photographed in January 2019, has said that “it is neither practical nor affordable for the state to pay people who do not work”
Pressure on the government is mounting to find a way to get out of the lockdown, after an analysis in The Daily Telegraph claimed that about 27 million are being funded by the government.
The figure is made up of workers without permission, people claiming benefits, retirees and public sector workers.
Former Chancellor Tory Lord Lamont of Lerwick told The Daily Telegraph: “ It is neither practical nor affordable for the state to pay people for not working; Ultimately, the government only has the money it gets from the taxes of the people who create the wealth.
‘It is not a sustainable position, except in the short term. It illustrates the danger and precariousness of our situation.
