·The furlough and self-employment schemes have been a lifeline for millions of people and businesses.
·The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has supported nearly 9 million jobs, at a value of £20 billion, benefitting over a million businesses.
·More than 2 million self-employed people are receiving support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
·Figures for the three Lewisham parliamentary constituencies show that over 41,500 jobs have been protected through the furlough scheme. There are also 16,700 self-employed people benefitting from £50,500,000 of support.
Lewisham has received unprecedented economic support to protect jobs and businesses during the Coronavirus outbreak. Across the three Lewisham constituencies 41,500 jobs have been protected through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, with Government grants covering 80 per cent of people’s wages, up to £2,500 a month.
This broken down as:
·Lewisham West & Penge- 12,100 jobs have been protected via the Retention Scheme, 5,500 self-employed people are receiving grants worth a total of £17,300,000 from the Government to help with the impact of Coronavirus.
·Lewisham Deptford - 16,800 jobs have been protected via the Retention Scheme, 6,000 self-employed people are receiving grants worth a total of £17,700,000 from the Government to help with the impact of Coronavirus.
Across London, people and businesses are benefitting from the Chancellor’s world-leading economic support:
·1,074,900 people have been supported through the furlough scheme.
·433,000 self-employed people are receiving grants worth £1,291,000,000 thanks to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
The Government’s top priority has always been to support people, protect jobs and businesses through this crisis, and the furlough and self-employment schemes have been a lifeline for millions of people and businesses across the country.
Commenting, London Assembly candidate for Lewisham Charlie Davis said:
“This is a hugely challenging time for people and businesses, and the Government’s schemes have helped to protect the livelihoods of thousands of people across Lewisham.
“This country has a world-leading economic response to coronavirus. And as we move through the second stage of our roadmap to recovery, we are determined to kick-start the engine of our economy while continuing to provide flexible support to those who need it.
“We will do everything we can to ensure people can pay their bills and put food on the table – as people continue to stay alert, to control the virus and save lives”.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, said:
“Our economic response to coronavirus was designed to keep people in work, protect people’s incomes, and support businesses. These measures have been on a scale unmatched by any government in recent history. All to give us the best chance of recovering quickly as the economy reopens.
“Now our energies are focused on getting people back to work safely, growing the economy and ensuring people can thrive in the new post-Covid world.”
