Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
MPs have urged Rishi Sunak to extend the taxpayer-funded furlough scheme businesses with a chance of surviving the coronavirus crisis.
The Chancellor should “show flexibility” and target companies that are still viable when the existing furlough scheme ends in October, members of the Treasury select committee said.
The committee said the Chancellor should “carefully consider” whether a targeted extension was needed for the furlough scheme, which has protected 9.6m jobs to date at a cost of £35bn. The scheme will be wound up at the end of October. Some 11 per cent of the British workforce were on partial or full furlough in mid-August, according to a survey published on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics.
>See also: Where to find your £1,000 small business lockdown grant
The cross-party select committee said in its report on the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, published today, that a large proportion of businesses in the sectors most affected by social distancing might have a long-term future.
“The key will be assisting those businesses who, with additional support, can come through the crisis as sustainable enterprises, rather than focusing on those that will unfortunately just not be viable in the