Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department has published for universities on furloughing employees on zero hours contracts during the covid-19 outbreak.

During and after the COVID-19 outbreak, our aim is for higher education (HE) providers to continue to deliver HE provision and to support the needs of staff and students, both on-campus and off-campus.

The department issued guidance on 17 April for HE providers so that they are aware of the support available to them and can apply for it. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care.

This guidance confirms that HE providers can access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help safeguard staff jobs. The linked guidance from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs confirms that employers can claim for employees on any type of employment contract, including full-time, part-time, agency, flexible or zero-hour contracts.

In developing this guidance, the department worked with trade unions as well as Universities UK and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association. We continue to work with the sector to provide further clarification as necessary to help providers understand how they can access the range of measures on offer.