How many people have been furloughed where you live? Interactive tool shows take-up of scheme

Workers in London and the South East of England have borne the brunt of the latest lockdown which has seen more than 4.5million jobs put on hiatus, MailOnline can reveal today.

The powerhouse corner of England had more posts mothballed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme than anywhere else, according to analysis of official data.

More than 712,000 jobs – or 17 per cent of jobs in the capital were furloughed as of January 31, a higher total figure and higher percentage any anywhere else. 

The South East was just behind on 633,200, 16 per cent of all jobs, according to preliminary data compiled by HM Revenue and Customs.

The data showed that each of the regions of the United Kingdom has been hit comparatively equally –  with each seeing between 14 and 17 per cent of jobs laid off under the JRS, which pays the vast majority of wages for workers at firms unable to operate. The UK-wide average is 16 per cent.

However, analysis of data down to the local council areas shows that London dominates the worst hit areas, with nine of the 20 with the highest percentage of workers on furlough in the capital.

However the two worst affected areas in the whole UK were in Cumbria.  Eden and South Lakeland had 25.5 per cent and 22.7 per cent of all jobs furloughed at the end of January, according to applications made by February 15.

In a sign of how much international travel and the holiday industry has been hit by the lockdowns and the ban on foreign travel, Crawley and Hounslow, home to Gatwick and Heathrow airports receptively, are both in the top 10. 

Put your local council name into the box below to see how many people are furloughed where you are and how they break down:

Rishi Sunak told to keep VAT cut for pubs and restaurants in place for another YEAR 

Rishi Sunak has been urged to extend a massive cut to VAT for pubs and restaurants to cover alcoholic drinks and keep it in place for another year in order to rescue the ailing hospitality industry. 

The chancellor lowered the rate to 5 per cent last year for food and soft drinks and is planning to keep it in place until at least June, when it is hoped Britain will return to something approaching normal life. 

But MPs and business leaders are demanding the rate stay in place for another 12 months, saying a return to the 20 per cent standard rate would strangle the sector’s recovery. 

In an additional boost for pubs and bars that have been closed for much of the last year they also want it to be extended to alcoholic ‘on sales’ to allow them to compete with off-licences. 

Under plans unveiled by Boris Johnson last week, pub gardens will reopen from April 12. But indoor sales are not expected to start until May 17 – with social distancing.

More than 80 MPs have signed a letter organised by the  All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism backing the change.

They also want it extended to tourism and leisure industries, plus an extension of the business rate holiday to cover the next financial year.

Hastings and Rye Tory MP Sally-Ann Hart, who co-chairs the APPG, said: ‘Our hospitality and tourism sectors are some of the best in the world. They are a fantastic social as well as economic asset and we should be immensely proud of them. 

‘They have been absolutely devastated by Covid, though. Despite unprecedented financial support from Government, unfortunately many businesses have been lost and they have taken hundreds of thousands of jobs with them. 

 

It comes after Rishi Sunak all but confirmed that the £50billion furlough scheme and other Covid support measures will continue until the end of June.

The measures are likely to cost at least £15billion, and will be supplemented by other short-term support, including a £5billion fund for high streets.

But in a series of interviews, Mr Sunak indicated that he plans to make this week’s giveaway Budget the last of its kind.

The Chancellor is said to be already planning a second Budget in the autumn in the hope an economic recovery will allow him to set out a more detailed plan for tax rises to restore the battered public finances.

This could include increases to capital gains tax, hikes in national insurance for the self-employed and cuts to pension tax relief.

It is understood the Chancellor will also delay the publication of new ‘fiscal rules’ governing tax and spending until that point.

But Whitehall sources confirmed he will start the process of closing the huge black hole in the nation’s finances this week by freezing income tax thresholds for at least three years.

The move, which will raise £6billion and drag 1.6million people into higher tax bands, prompted an outcry from Tory MPs last night.

Mr Sunak is also set to raise corporation tax from 19 per cent to 20 – and set out a ‘pathway’ to increase it to 23 per cent.

The Chancellor said he had to ‘level with people’ about the scale of the economic challenge.

‘I think in the short-term what we need to do is protect the economy and keep supporting the economy through the roadmap, and over time what we need to do is make sure our public finances are sustainable,’ Mr Sunak said.

‘That isn’t going to happen overnight.’

Treasury insiders believe the pandemic could leave a long-term deficit of more than £40billion – equal to about 8p on the basic rate of income tax.

The crisis has also led to record borrowing of almost £400billion, pushing the national debt to £2.1trillion.

The Chancellor said an ‘honest and fair’ plan was needed and the huge borrowing had left the UK vulnerable to even a small rise in interest rates. 

Treasury sources said even a one-point rise could require an extra £25billion in interest payments.

Mr Sunak will make jobs a priority and is considering a National Insurance holiday for employers who take on new staff.

But in the short-term he made clear the costly package of economic support credited with propping up millions of jobs will continue.

‘We went big, we went early and there’s more to come and people should feel reassured by that,’ he said.