Feryal Clark MP urges UK Government to adopt new ‘smart’ furlough scheme to protect 8,472 jobs in Enfield North

Feryal Clark – MP for Enfield North - is urging the Government to adopt a new ‘smart’ furlough scheme to protect the jobs of Enfield North employees.

Seven months after the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak MP, launched his ‘Plan for Jobs’ last July, 5,985 people are claiming out of work benefits and 8,472 people are still on furlough in Enfield North.

The Chancellor’s initially triggered a one-size-fits-all wind down of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) in his Plan for Jobs last July. After several last-minute changes over the autumn and winter, the scheme is now set to expire at the end of April.

Feryal is joining her Labour colleagues in calling for the immediate announcement that the furlough scheme will be extended to remove uncertainty for local businesses and workers. She is also calling for urgent reform to make furlough smarter, with new training to help furloughed workers improve their skills and tough conditions on employers to stop abuse. 

Labour’s figures show that 4,600 people in Enfield North had made claims under the Coronavirus Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) by the end of July. The Chancellor has left millions of self-employed people relying on the SEISS in the dark about future support.

Labour is calling on the Chancellor to set fourth grant of the SEISS at 80% of pre-crisis profits – and to do it now, not at the Budget.

Feryal Clark, MP for Enfield North, said:

“The 8,472 people currently on furlough do not have the luxury of time and the Chancellor needs to up his game and announce a new ‘smart’ furlough scheme today. Without action we could see these jobs lost and people’s lives made even tougher during the pandemic.

“We need urgent action to secure, recover and create jobs to help 5,985 people claiming out of work benefits in Enfield North. This must include a smarter furlough scheme, an overhaul of the failing Kickstart youth programme, and reform of the shambolic Green Homes Grant as part of wider action to ‘Build it in Britain’ and support the creation of new jobs.

“The Government needs to also address the gaps in support for our self-employed workforce. For too long they have been forgotten and this has put the squeeze on family’s incomes. We must see the SEISS set at 80% of pre-crisis profits now.”