The £70 billion furlough programme closes on Thursday (PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)It is hold-your-breath time. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme — or furlough — announced by the Chancellor on March 20 last year, ends today.
At the peak of the crisis, the programme supported about nine million workers and has cost nearly £70 billion, an unprecedented act that prevented mass unemployment and hardship as the Government effectively switched swathes of the economy off to combat the spread of Covid-19.
What comes next is crucial. How many furloughed workers will return to their old jobs, to new ones, quit or become unemployed? Some will be able to fill the many vacancies across the economy, but many will not have the right skills. Do not expect the HGV driver shortfall to be solved overnight.
It is especially critical for the capital. Eight of the 10 local authorities with the highest proportions of jobs on furlough as of July 31 were in London. The Institute for Fiscal Studies warns that due to the capital’s higher levels of furlough and lower job vacancies, our city is most exposed to higher levels of unemployment.
If London — the engine room of the UK economy — falters, our national recovery goes with it. The Government must act now, in concert with City Hall, to help the capital once again lead the way.
