To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2021 to Question 22225 on Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme: Fraud, how many (a) employers and (b) employees have received payments under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme; and how many investigations into fraudulent abuse are underway but have not yet reached the stage of being considered for potential prosecution.
Answered on
12 July 2021
A total of 1.3 million employers have claimed under the furlough scheme (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, CJRS) and 11.6 million employments have been put on furlough for at least part of the duration of the scheme. These figures are based on CJRS claims received by HMRC up to 14 June 2021.
Employees may be on furlough from more than one employment, in which case they would appear in these statistics for each job from which they are on furlough.
HMRC have opened 6,150 inquiries into suspected overpayments due to error or fraud as of 30 June. This figure refers to any cases open where HMRC believe there has been fraud or an error which requires HMRC intervention.