Number of ‘employments’ furloughed under CJRS stood at 3.8 million at 31 December 2020

HMRC figures also show that total value of claims to scheme since it was introduced in March 2020 exceeds £49 billion

The number of 'employments' furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) stood at 3.9 million at 31 December 2020, according to new statistics from HMRC.

NB - the statistics count 'employments' rather than individuals with the result that, for example, an employee with jobs with two employers will be counted twice if both jobs are furloughed.

In Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme statistics: January 2021, HMRC provides analysis of claims to the CJRS, which was announced in March 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and enables employers to claim back financial support to enable them to pay employees who are furloughed.

In relation to the number of 'employments' furloughed, HMRC highlights that -

• initially, the number of employments furloughed increased quickly following the announcement of the scheme on 20 March 2020, reaching 4.8 million on 23 March 2020 and 6.8 million by the end of March;
• following further strong growth at the start of April 2020, the number of employments furloughed increased gradually and peaked at 8.9 million on 8 May 2020, before a fall of around 670,000 employments between the end of May and the start of June 2020;
• the number of employments that were furloughed continued to reduce until the end of October 2020, falling from 6.8 million at 30 June to 2.4 million at 31 October 2020;
• the number of employments furloughed increased by 1.3 million at the start of November 2020 and increased further to a peak of 4.1 million on 11 November 2020 before falling back slightly to 3.9 million employments furloughed at 30 November 2020; and
• provisional estimates for December 2020 show that the number of employments furloughed reduced in early December before increasing back to 3.9 million on 25 December 2020 and then reducing slightly to 3.8 million on 31 December 2020.

In addition, HMRC says that the provisional value of claims for the period from 1 November 2020 to 31 December 2020 is £5.970 billion which - added to the £43.314 billion spending on the scheme in the period up to 31 October 2020 confirmed in the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme statistics: December 2020 - brings the total value of claims since the introduction of the scheme to £49.274 billion.

Separately, in relation to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme - which was introduced in May 2020 - HMRC advises that, by 31 December 2020, 1.9 million claims had been made for the third tranche that opened on 30 November 2020, totalling £4.5 billion.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme statistics: January 2021 and HMRC coronavirus (Covid-19) statistics: Self-employment Income Support Scheme: January 2021 are available from gov.uk