Furlough claims exceed £53bn in value

The value of claims made under the coronavirus job support scheme (CJRS) at 15 February was £53.8bn according to HMRC’s latest figures.

The number of employers that have made at least one CJRS claim to 31 January 2021 is 1.3 million with some 4.7 million employments furloughed in total. Provisional figures show that the number of employments furloughed in the accommodation and food services sector rose from 1.12 million at 31 December to 1.15 million at 31 January. Employers in the wholesale and retail sector are estimated to have made claims covering 938 500 jobs.

The figures reveal that overall at 31 December 36% of employers had staff furloughed with provisional estimates showing this increased to 41% at 31 January.

The statistics for the self-employment income support scheme showed that by 31 January 2.2 million individuals or 65% of the...