Since they were announced more than two weeks ago, I’ve been contacted by lots of constituents who have fallen through the gaps in the Government’s income support packages and I’ve been following up on all the issues with Ministers.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme committed to covering 80% of furloughed workers’ wages (up to £2,500 a month), but only for those on a company’s payroll before 28th February. People who joined their workplace later and were made redundant as a result of the coronavirus crisis were left without support.

It clearly wasn’t fair, so I wrote to the Chancellor calling on him to alter the cut-off date to align with the date that he announced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. 

I was pleased to see that he made some changes yesterday – and that eligibility for the scheme has been extended to 19th March. However, there are still some large gaps as, due to a technicality in the design of the scheme, not everyone who was employed as of 19th March will be covered. I will be pressing for further change, directly with the Chancellor and through Labour’s Shadow Treasury Team. 

Do get in touch about any problems that you may be facing.