Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to prevent abuse of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme since 1 July 2020.

More than £27.4 billion has been claimed through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), supporting 1.1m employers and 9.4m furloughed jobs. The vast majority of employers have used the scheme responsibly. Compliance and anti-fraud measures have been built into the administration of the scheme since its inception.

Since 1 July, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs have enabled employers who have overclaimed the CJRS to pay back part or all of their grant; this includes employers that have accidentally overclaimed without intending to abuse the scheme. Employers can either correct overclaims in their next claim or make a payment to HMRC.

Since the start of the scheme, the Government has asked employees to report any concerns about CJRS fraud to HMRC. Fraudulent abuse of the scheme can be reported through HMRC’s online reporting form, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/report-fraud-to-hmrc.

HMRC will not hesitate to act on reports of abuse and the first arrest made in relation to CJRS fraud took place on 8 July.