Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing postdoctoral researchers in receipt of URKI grants to be furloughed when their research involving feasibility studies has had to be paused as a result of their needing to collect data from a medical setting.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is available for researchers who meet the eligibility criteria (as set out in HMRC and DfE guidance for Higher Education Institutions). This includes research staff directly supported by public grants where they are not able to conduct research due to non-pharmaceutical interventions.

Staff costs for that period may not be claimed from the public research funder. The CJRS is not available for researchers who are not on the PAYE payroll.