Recommendation 17

We noted that a large number of business, particularly within more restricted areas, had not been able to operate normally for many months. While support for businesses is expected, it is essential that government provides this money as quickly as possible.46 The Job Retention Bonus was supposed to pay businesses £1,000 for each furloughed worker brought back to work and continuously employed until the end of January 2021.47 We asked HM Treasury how much money it had set aside for the scheme and whether it had been cancelled or deferred as reports appeared to be mixed. HM Treasury told us that this scheme had been deferred as it would not make sense to pay the grants at the same time as extending the furlough scheme and that instead it was something that the Chancellor will come back to next year.48 HM Treasury noted that the Chancellor felt that the broader and more generous safety net provided by extending the existing CJRS was required—rather than implementing the JSS—in order to help keep people in work.49