CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the Treasury will continue to pay the wages of workers on leave because of coronavirus until October.

Around 7.5 million workers – roughly a quarter of the UK’s workforce – have been pushed on to the furlough scheme by their employers, far more than was initially expected. Those on the programme have 80% of their monthly pay – up to a cap of £2500 – paid for by the UK Government.

The scheme costs the Government around £14 billion a month.

Yesterday in the Commons, Sunak said employers will be expected to start contributing more towards the wage bill from the end of July.

The scheme had been due to close at the end of the next month, but with fears of huge job losses over summer, the Chancellor had little choice but to extend it.

He only had a few days left to act too. Any company seeking to cut more than 100 jobs must, by law, run a 45-day consultation.

Any firm looking to enter that process before the end of the furlough scheme ended would need to have started on May 18.

Speaking in the Commons, Sunak told MPs there would also be greater flexibility with the system.

Currently furloughed employees cannot work. That, the Chancellor said, would change. He said: “Employers currently using the scheme will be able to bring furloughed employees back part-time.

“And we will ask employers to start sharing with the Government the cost of paying people’s salaries.”

He told MPs: “I’m extending the scheme because I won’t give up on the people who rely on it.

“Our message today is simple: we stood behind Britain’s workers and businesses as we came into this crisis, and we will stand behind them as we come through the other side.”

The Chancellor also rejected suggestions – made by a senior government source in the press last week – that people had become “addicted” to being on furlough.

“First, the word addiction is not one that I have ever used and it is not one that I agree with.

“Nobody who is on the furlough scheme wants to be on the scheme. People up and down the country believe in the dignity of their work, of going to work and providing for their families.

“It is not their fault that their business has been asked to close. It is not their fault that they have been asked to stay at home. That is why I established the scheme to support those people and their livelihoods at this critical time.”

Fiona Hyslop, the Scottish Government Culture, Tourism and External Affairs Secretary, welcomed the extension but said there were still questions to be answered.

The National: Fiona Hyslop

READ MORE: Scots firms demand clarity after coronavirus furlough scheme extended

She said: “I am particularly pleased that from August flexibility will be introduced, enabling people to return to work part-time without being penalised financially, as businesses transition out of the lockdown and adapt to new operating conditions which are likely to require the maintenance of physical distancing and other public health measures.

“However, more clarity is required on the details of today’s announcement. In particular, what employers will be asked to contribute to the costs of the scheme, how any changes will relate to guidance on safer workplaces in each of the four nations, how workers in isolation will be supported and what additional support might be provided to industries such as tourism and hospitality, facing specific difficulties.”

Labour’s shadow chancellor, Anneliese Dodds, also gave the scheme a cautious welcome. “The Government must clarify today when employers will be required to start making contributions and how much they’ll be asked to pay. If every business is suddenly required to make a substantial contribution from August 1 onwards, there is a very real risk that we will see mass redundancies.”

Scottish Conservative leader, Jackson Carlaw, welcomed the announcement, adding: “The Chancellor has today given millions of workers across Scotland economic security right through until October.”

Meanwhile, the official UK coronavirus death toll – which includes only those who have tested positive for the virus – has risen to 32,692 – up 627 on Monday’s figure.

However, official figures released by the Office of National Statistics suggested the real number could be significantly higher.

The ONS said 35,044 deaths involving Covid-19 were registered in England and Wales up to May 9.

Adding the latest figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland, the total official UK death toll now stands at 40,496.