Labour calls for furlough extension and overhaul

Labour is calling for an indefinite extension and radical reform of the Government’s furlough scheme which it says would avert an unemployment crisis.

Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds is urging Chancellor Rishi Sunak to extend the furlough scheme, which is due to stop up at the end of April, until coronavirus-related restrictions are lifted. Business groups including the British Chambers of Commerce have called for the furlough scheme to be extended until the summer, while the TUC has said it should remain in place through 2021.

She will also call for reform, with new training to help furloughed workers improve their skills. It points to initiatives in Germany, France and the Netherlands where furlough schemes include incentives and conditions to encourage job retention and training so as to prevent abuse.

Calling the Government Plan for Jobs “a disaster”, Dodds is demanding an urgent overhaul of the Kickstart scheme to help younger workers back to work and reforms to the Green Homes Grant to encourage more green jobs.

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