Cllr Mathew Dorrance - calls for rethink over scrapping furlough

A letter signed by 1,200 Labour leaders, councillors and mayors has been sent to Prime Minister Boris Johnson MP, urging him to introduce targeted financial support.

They back the stance taken by the “Alliance for Full Employment,” launched earlier this month by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford and Metropolitan Mayors, Andy Burnham (Manchester), Dan Jarvis (Sheffield), Steve Rotherham (Liverpool) and Sadiq Khan (London).

They believe that mass unemployment “should not be an inevitability” of the coronavirus pandemic.

Cllr Dorrance (Brecon St John), said: “The UK Conservative Government is putting thousands of jobs in Powys at risk with its blanket withdrawal of the furlough scheme.

“That’s bad news for working people, bad news for businesses and bad news for our economy.

“We need a financial support system that targets industries worst hit by the pandemic; supports any areas under local lockdown restrictions; and ensures incomes for people who are forced to self-isolate, including for those who are self-employed.”

Cllr Dorrance added that Powys County Council’s (PCC) own data shows that withdrawing furlough would put the county economy at risk.

He has also asked councillors on Recovery Planning scrutiny group to join his call and also write to Mr Johnson.

“The Prime Minister must act now to protect jobs and save lives,” said Cllr Dorrance.

Under the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme, to give furlough its official title, workers placed on leave have been able to receive 80 per cent of their pay, up to a maximum of £2,500 a month.

It is set to finish at the end of October, and the fear is that many workers will be made redundant.

In Powys figures from the HM Revenue and Customs from the end of Jult said that around 16,000 claims for furlough had been made.

PCC itself put 199 workers the equivalent of 83 full time staff on furlough leave.

The letter to Mr Johnson, says:

Dear Prime Minister,

Ref: The protection of UK jobs and businesses

Our country is facing an unprecedented jobs crisis. The Office for Budget Responsibility predicts that, by the end of this year, nearly one in eight of the UK’s workforce will be unemployed. Your government’s plan to end furlough outright is over-simplistic and will only exacerbate the problem – it puts millions of jobs at risk.

That is why we are supporting the Alliance for Full Employment and the Daily Mirror’s ‘Keep Britain Working’ campaign. We need a financial support system that targets industries worst hit by the pandemic; supports any areas under local lockdown restrictions; and ensures incomes for people who are forced to self-isolate, including for those who are self-employed.

Without targeted support for sectors and local lockdown areas that have been badly affected by the pandemic, viable businesses will fail and employment will be lost. This will extinguish any hopes of a quick economic recovery from the deep recession we are facing.

And it is not only the economic impact of your decisions that is of grave concern to us. If you do not provide support for areas under local lockdown and ensure incomes for people who are self isolating, your government will help create the conditions in which the virus will spread. The £95 a week Statutory Sick Pay currently offered to those self isolating is woefully inadequate – if it is not possible for people to work from home, the British public will be left with the impossible choice of not earning or breaking the isolation rules. In short, you are risking the health of workers and their families if you refuse to protect their livelihoods.

As councillors and local representatives, we are extremely concerned about the impact that the blanket withdrawal of furlough will have on our communities and we urge you to reconsider in order to save jobs, and to save lives.

Yours sincerely,