Oral Answers to Questions

Nicola Richards Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd June 2021 Commons Chamber

[Nicola Richards (West Bromwich East) (Con)]

What recent estimate his Department has made of the number of furloughed employees moving back into work.

[Greg Smith (Buckingham) (Con)]

What recent estimate his Department has made of the number of furloughed employees moving back into work.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Rishi Sunak)]

Between the end of January and the end of April, 1.5 million people left the furlough scheme. The most recent business survey from the Office for National Statistics estimates that the number of employees furloughed continued to decline after that point, to approximately 2 million at the end of May, which is the lowest level reported by the survey since June last year. At the same time, the number of payrolled employees has increased for six consecutive months. I believe that the coronavirus job retention scheme is striking the right balance between supporting the economy as it opens up, continuing to provide support and protect incomes, and ensuring that incentives are in place to get people back to work as demand returns.

[Nicola Richards]

Does my right hon. Friend recall that at the start of the pandemic, many commentators feared that it would lead to unemployment on an unprecedented scale? Has he estimated that impact of his furlough scheme on protecting jobs?

[Rishi Sunak]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. The furlough scheme has supported more than 11.5 million jobs since the start of the pandemic, and she is right to say that at that point, forecasts suggested that unemployment would peak at around 12%. Those forecasts now show unemployment peaking at half that level, which means 2 million fewer people losing their jobs than previously feared. Our unemployment today is lower than that in Italy, France, Spain, Canada, the United States and Australia, and it shows that our plan for jobs is working.