To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce a backdated grant for workers who have not had access to any COVID-19 financial support.
Answered on
26 April 2021
The Government understands how difficult the COVID-19 pandemic has been for workers across the UK, and its priority remains to protect people and livelihoods. The Government has provided an unprecedented package of economic support for individuals and businesses with a cumulative cost of £352 billion. Individuals have received support through a number of schemes, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS). Extensions to both of these schemes were announced at the Budget. As at 15 March 2021, CJRS has supported 11.4 million jobs since its inception, with £57.7 billion being claimed by a total of 1.3 million employers, protecting jobs which may otherwise have been lost, while claims for through SEISS have totalled £19.7 billion.
Under the current terms of the CJRS, employers cannot retrospectively furlough an employee. This was only allowed for the period up to 13 November 2020 to account for the fact that the announcement of the extension of the scheme was made shortly before the CJRS was due to end.