Local MP Calls on Chancellor for Smarter Furlough Scheme

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Local MP Calls on Chancellor for Smarter Furlough Scheme

New analysis by the Labour Party estimates that 8,710 people were still furloughed by their employer in late January across Dagenham and Rainham. And seven months on from the Chancellor's ?Plan for Jobs', 6,585 people are claiming out of work benefits in the constituency.

The Chancellor 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.

Jon Cruddas MP is calling for Sunak to immediately announce an extension to the furlough scheme, to remove uncertainty for local businesses and workers. The Opposition are 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.

Figures also show that 8,100 people in Dagenham and Rainham 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 Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) in the dark about future support.

Labour has also called for the scheme to opened to the 200,000 people who only have a 2019/20 tax return, and for the Chancellor to urgently fix the holes its support schemes that have left millions of others excluded from support.

Jon Cruddas MP said: "Rishi Sunak's Plan for Jobs has been a disaster. Seven months after its launch, we've got record redundancies, soaring unemployment and the worst economic crisis of any major economy.

"We need urgent action to secure, recover and create jobs to help 6,585 people claiming out of work benefits and 8,710 people still on furlough in Dagenham and Rainham. 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 400,000 new jobs.

"People can't afford to wait for the Chancellor to get his act together. They need emergency action today, not more dither and delay until the Budget."