Government plans to reduce furlough pay: what it could mean for businesses

<p>The Government’s furlough scheme has been a lifeline for businesses and individuals during lockdown - but it can’t continue forever. Taxpayers are meeting the wages of 6.3 million people at a cost of around £8 billion. The Evening Standard has revealed the government’s now <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/rishi-sunak-furlough-plans-coronavirus-a4432181.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">looking at ways to taper off the subsidy</a>, starting&nbsp;with reducing it from 80 percent of an employees wage to 60 percent. What will this mean for small businesses?&nbsp;Craig Beaumont from the <a href="https://www.fsb.org.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Federation of Small Businesses</a>&nbsp;joins the Leader podcast.</p><br><p>In order to lift the lockdown, the UK must pass five tests:&nbsp;does the NHS have enough capacity; has there been a sustained and consistent fall in daily deaths, is the rate of infection decreasing, is there enough PPE to meet demand, is there a risk of a second peak? So how close are we? The Evening Standard’s deputy political editor has been running the numbers, and joins The Leader podcast <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/how-far-is-the-uk-from-passing-five-tests-to-lift-the-coronavirus-lockdown-a4431951.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">to share what he’s found</a>.</p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>