Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of furloughed employees during the covid-19 outbreak moving back into work.

Between the end of January and end of April 2021, 1.5 million left the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The most recent ONS Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) estimates the number of employees furloughed continued to decline to approximately 1.7 million in late May, the lowest level reported by the Survey since June 2020. At the same time, the number of payrolled employees has increased for six consecutive months.

The CJRS is therefore striking the right balance between supporting the economy as it opens up, continuing to provide support and protect incomes, and ensuring incentives are in place to get people back to work as demand returns.