Furlough and business loans on the agenda for Covid Inquiry

"The third stage of the Covid-19 Inquiry begins hearing evidence on Monday focusing on the measures taken to support workers' incomes and keep businesses afloat when the pandemic struck. It will focus on what action the UK government, devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and local authorities took, how well schemes were designed and what was done to minimise fraud and waste."

"This next module, expected to last until just before Christmas, will examine the unprecedented economic intervention rolled out when the first lockdown was announced in March 2020. The largest scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, known as furlough, covered 11.7 million jobs between March 2020 and September 2021, at a cost of 70bn, paying a portion of employees' wages to ensure they still had an income even if they could not go to work, and to keep businesses going so that they could reopen later."

The third stage of the Covid-19 Inquiry will hear evidence on measures to protect workers' incomes and keep businesses afloat during the pandemic. The inquiry will examine actions by the UK government, devolved administrations and local authorities, scheme design, and steps taken to reduce fraud and waste. The Treasury reports 140bn spent on business support, with the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme covering 11.7 million jobs at a cost of 70bn. Other measures included self-employed support, business loans and business rates relief. The inquiry will weigh praise for rapid roll-out against concerns over scale, safeguards and labour market effects.

Read at www.bbc.com