Furlough and rates relief to be wound down despite England lockdown extension

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The final measures of easing England out of lockdown has been delayed until July 19, but calls for business rates relief and the furlough scheme to be extended have been rejected.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed last night that the fourth and final stage of taking England out of lockdown, which as set for June 21, has now been pushed back to July 19.

The decision has been prompted by the rapid spread in cases of the Delta variant of the coronavirus, which originated in India and has led to a 50% rise in hospitalisations across England week-on-week.

The lockdown extension is set to be reviewed in two weeks and Johnson said he was ‘confident’ that the delay would not need to be longer than four weeks.

Despite this blow to hospitality operators, chancellor Rishi Sunak has rejected the call to extend furlough and business rates relief, both of which are set to begin to wind down from the start of next month.

It is understood that the chancellor is confident that the measures currently in place will provide sufficient support for the impacted businesses to weather the four week extension.

The furlough scheme will wind down from paying 80% of people’s wages to 70% from July 1, with support set to be withdrawn altogether by September.

Business rate relief is set to fall from 100% to 66% from July 1, although it will remain in place until March next year.

UKHospitality’s chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “We recognise that the chancellor has provided long-term support for the sector which extends into the recovery period, but there is no doubt that any extension to the restrictions will be challenging for sectors yet to to open and those still trading at a loss to navigate.

“Among other measures, the government must postpone business rates payments until at least October and extend the rent moratorium while a long-term solution is found.”

CBI director general Tony Danker said: “Continuing restrictions means the government must urgently revisit the support available. That starts with holding back on the tapering of business rates relief and extending the commercial rent moratorium for those sectors most impacted.”