Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on employers using money from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to make redundancy payments.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme grants cannot be used to cover redundancy payments. The Government wants to ensure that employees do not lose out on their employment rights because they have been furloughed. New legislation which commenced on 31 July will ensure that pay received in relation to statutory redundancy pay, statutory notice pay, unfair dismissal compensation and pay for short-time working are based on an employee’s normal pay, rather than their furlough pay (potentially 80% of their normal wage).