With the government furlough scheme due to end on the 31st August, Ian has called for the government to extend the scheme in order to protect those who have relied on it throughout he pandemic to provide basic needs for themselves and their families.

Over 280,000 people in the North east alone have relied on the furlough scheme during the pandemic, and many will be concerned about the safety of their jobs as the scheme winds down next month.

Ian has also expressed concern over the misuse of the furlough scheme, condemning firms that have accepted funding from the scheme, officially called the Job Retention Scheme, only to make staff redundant or cut their pay.

Ian has submitted an early day motion to the house of commons calling for the furlough scheme to be extended beyond the date currently given. As reported in the Chronicle, Ian has encouraged the government to

“remove an arbitrary cut off date for the Job Retention Scheme and to provide significant support to critically affected sectors to avoid widespread job losses.”

And

“to immediately assess the impact of firms misusing the scheme to cover costs during redundancy consultation periods, to commit to providing regular updates on this and to legislate to close this loophole, which allows unscrupulous employers to benefit from the Job Retention Scheme whilst reducing jobs and attacking employees’ wages, terms and conditions.”