Chancellor urged to extend furlough and self-employment support schemes beyond April 2021

Northern Ireland Economy Minister says schemes are essential and must remain in place until there are clear signs of economic recovery

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has been urged to extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) beyond April 2021 by the Northern Ireland Economy Minister Diane Dodds.

The Minister's call follows the publication of new HMRC figures for the CJRS and SEISS yesterday, that Ms Dodds highlights as showing -

• around 94,800 workers in Northern Ireland were furloughed using the CJRS as at 31 December 2020 - an increase from approximately 68,000 at 31 October 2020;
• around 52,000 self-employed individuals in Northern Ireland had claimed the third SEISS grant up to the same date - around 55 per cent of eligible self-employed workers in Northern Ireland; and
• of eligible employments, Northern Ireland had a 12 per cent take-up of CJRS payments as at 31 December 2020, an increase of 4 per cent from the 8 per cent take-up rate at the end of September 2020.

Ms Dodds said -

‘These are startling figures which underline the continued economic costs of Covid-19 on individuals and their livelihoods. I have always been clear that the furlough and the self-employed schemes are essential and must remain in place until there are clear signs of economic recovery.

Since last March, I have lobbied hard with National Government on this issue and I will continue to do so. It is vital workers across Northern Ireland must be able to access the support they need, not just to protect their livelihoods now, but to be in a position to plan ahead towards recovery with some degree of certainty.

It is so important that we get infections under control and allow people and business to get back to work as soon as is feasible in order to begin the process of recovery. However, these figures demonstrate that too many workers are still reliant on this essential support. Therefore it is too early to consider stopping it.’

For more information, see Dodds calls for extension of national support schemes beyond April from ni.gov.uk