Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason education supply staff are not automatically signed up to the flexible furlough scheme.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been extended until 30 April 2021. Employers can claim 80% of an employee’s usual salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.

If supply staff employed via employment agencies are unable to work due to COVID-19, under some circumstances their employment agency can place them on furlough and use the CJRS to claim for 80% of their wages, including during school holiday periods, provided that the eligibility criteria are met: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-which-employees-you-can-put-on-furlough-to-use-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme.

Employers can now flexibly furlough their employees for the hours the employee would usually have worked in that period, whilst also being able to work outside of the hours they are furloughed: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme#flexible-furlough-agreements. Employees can work for any amount of time and any work pattern, but they cannot do any work for their employer during hours that employers record them as being on furlough.

The decision to furlough an employee, fully or flexibly, is entirely at the employer's discretion as it is dependent on a range of factors that the employer is best placed to determine, for example, the amount of work available for employees.