Coronavirus: ‘There will be no cliff edge to the furlough scheme’

The Chancellor's Job Retention Scheme will not come to an abrupt end. Rishi Sunak has today reassured the ‘anxious’ public that ‘there will be no cliff edge to the furlough scheme’.

Talking to ITV News he said: “I’m working as we speak to figure out the most effective way to wind down the scheme and ease people back into work in a measured way.

“As some scenarios have suggested we are potentially spending as much on the furlough scheme as we are on the NHS for example. Clearly that is not a sustainable situation, which is why as soon as the time is right, we want to get people back to work and get our economy fired up again.”

As long as the JRS exists there's little incentive for firms to reopen and make social distancing work and the chancellor appears to be signalling to companies they will have to start preparing to wean themselves off.

Over 6million people have been furloughed and last month, the Office for Budget Responsibly calculated that if 8.3 million people ended up being furloughed it would cost the government around £42 billion over three months.

Kate Nicholls, CEO of UK Hospitality tweeted: "Great to hear Chancellor @RishiSunak give 2.5m hospitality workers reassurance “there will be no cliff edge to furlough scheme, working to figure out most effective way to wind down & ease people back into work in a measured way” and we are working on protocols to keep them safe."