Banff and Buchan MP David Duguid has hailed new figures released yesterday (Thursday) that show the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme supporting some 5,500 jobs in Banff and Buchan and more than 16,500 across Aberdeenshire.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was announced over a year ago on 20 March 2020 and has supported employers in paying their employees and avoiding redundancies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figures for February 2021 are provisional and subject to revision as additional claims for the period are received. Broadly, the age, gender and regional patterns of furloughed employments in February, and the business size breakdown of employers, are similar to those seen in January.
Since the start of the scheme a total of 11.4 million different jobs have been supported across the UK by the CJRS at various times. This is across all claims submitted to 15 March 2021
Figures for Banff and Buchan show an increase in furloughed employees from 3,600 in December 2020 to 5,500 as of 28 February 2021 (provisional). This represents 13% of the eligible employments in Banff and Buchan. Cumulative figures show a total of 15,000 jobs have been supported by the UK Government job retention scheme since March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.
The figures for Aberdeenshire show 14% of eligible employments, or some 16,600 jobs were furloughed at 28 February 2021 and a cumulative figure of 42,000 jobs supported since March 2020.
Scottish Conservative MP for Banff and Buchan David Duguid said:
“These latest figures from HMRC are a testament to the unwavering support the UK Government has provided to local jobs across Banff and Buchan and the North East.
“The strength of the UK Treasury in supporting families, communities, businesses and jobs across Scotland is clear to see, not least in Banff and Buchan where some 5,500 jobs are still being directly supported by the job retention scheme and a total of 15,000 local jobs have been supported in Banff and Buchan since the pandemic hit.
“These figures also show the flexibility of the system in place as more jobs have been furloughed since December 2020 when we re-entered lockdown.
“In tandem with the fantastic and world leading vaccine roll-out, the UK Government continues to support our economy and communities towards recovery.”
