Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether supply teachers who are registered to work with a number of different supply agencies can receive payments through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme; and if so, how.

Where a supply teacher is supplied via an agency and paid through PAYE, they would be eligible to be furloughed and receive support through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme provided that the remaining eligibility criteria are met.

Furlough should be agreed between the agency, as the deemed employer, and the worker. It is advised that the need to furlough should be discussed with the end client involved.

Supply teachers are eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme in the same way as other employees. If they hold multiple employment contracts, they are able to receive support from the scheme from multiple employers.

Supply teachers can be furloughed by one employer and continue to work for another. If they are furloughed by more than one employer, they will receive separate payments from each employer. Each employer can claim up to 80% grant for the hours not worked by an employee, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.

The decision to furlough an employee, fully or flexibly, is entirely at the employer’s discretion.

During this period of restricted pupil attendance, schools have remained open for vulnerable children and the children of key workers, and remote education has been in place for other pupils. Schools have continued to engage supply staff where they have been needed to support either face to face or remote education.