Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether, if he will extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme registration date beyond 31 October 2020 to cover those workers taken on as covid-19 tier restrictions were relaxed but were subsequently let go without furlough payments from 30 December 2020.

Throughout the pandemic, the Government has moved the cut-off date for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme when possible, bringing millions of people into the scope of the scheme who were previously ineligible. For claim periods under the extension from 1 May 2021, as announced at Budget, the Government has extended the eligibility window so that it will run from 20 March 2020 until 2 March 2021. Based on early estimates, this means that about 2.4 million more jobs are eligible for the scheme.

However, for all eligibility decisions under the CJRS, the Government balances the need to support as many people as possible with the need to protect the scheme from fraud. The 30 October 2020 cut-off date is necessary for claims relating to the period from 1 November 2020 to 30 April 2021, because having a cut-off date on the day before an announcement of an extension to the CJRS allows as many people as possible to be included, while balancing the risk of fraud that exists as soon as the forward plan becomes public.

The CJRS is only one part of the substantial package of support that the Government has introduced for businesses and individuals.