WALES does not want a ‘cliff edge approach’ to ending furlough.
Those were the words of Wales’ economy minister Vaughan Gething during a Q&A session after he announced additional support from Welsh Government for businesses impacted by the phased approach to moving into Alert Level One.
The topic of furlough – which is decided by UK Government and is not devolved to Welsh Government – was also mentioned. It’s expected that prime minister Boris Johnson will announce a delay to plans for England to ease restrictions on June 21 later today.
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Mr Gething acknowledged that the issue of furlough is "a real challenge" for businesses, which will have difficult decisions to make as it is phased out.
If, as expected, a delay for four weeks on further easing of restrictions is announced in England, Mr Gething said he hopes the ‘UK Treasury continues to act as a Treasury for the whole of the UK’ in terms of extending support across the UK.
"At some point furlough will come to an end, but we do not want a cliff edge approach," he said, adding that it would be ‘helpful and sensible’ to reconsider the issue if England delays for a month."
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