Covid: Furlough backlash amid Welsh firebreak snub claims

The way Wales has been treated over cash for jobs during its firebreak compared to England is "not fair at all", says its first minister.

Mark Drakeford said requests to boost wage subsidies when a national lockdown was introduced in Wales were repeatedly turned down by the UK Treasury.

In October, the UK government paid up to 60% of furlough pay - including in the first week of the Wales firebreak.

It will now rise back to 80% across the UK as England's lockdown begins.

"When things change in England they change their minds about the furlough plan. And that's not fair," said Mr Drakeford.

While welcoming the extension of furlough, he added: "When we were asking it was impossible to do it. Now when they have made new decisions in England it is possible."

He said written requests to Chancellor Rishi Sunak prior to the all-Wales lockdown for additional job support measures were rebuffed.

It included a request to bring forward the planned replacement for furlough in Wales - the new Job Support Scheme - to cover the Wales firebreak.

"I got an answer quickly to say that was not possible for a number of technical reasons and so no," Mr Drakeford told BBC Radio Cymru.

England faces a new lockdown from Thursday for a month.

Eligible people in Wales will also benefit form the furlough extension - as well as from a decision to extend mortgage payment holidays.

The Treasury said Wales was not being treated differently to England.

A spokesman added: "It is now clear that much broader restrictions are needed right across the country to contain the virus, so we have extended our financial support across the UK to help millions of people continue to provide for their families."

Welsh Secretary Simon Hart said the Welsh Government did not ask for a furlough extension, instead the request was related to the Job Support Scheme - which was due to replace furlough.

He tweeted, attaching a copy of the first minister's letter to the chancellor: "They asked for a different scheme to be brought forward having already been told that it was impossible."

In a response to the comments, fired back on social media, the Welsh Government said Mr Hart "has his facts wrong".

"We have repeatedly asked and called for furlough to be extended to support workers and businesses in Wales," said Welsh Government officials.

Mr Drakeford's cabinet has been meeting on Sunday to discuss the impact of the month-long lockdown in England.

Wales' firebreak will end on 9 November - and the date will not change as a result of the prime minister's announcement on Saturday night, he said.

But the English lockdown "creates a new context", Mr Drakeford said.

He used the example of pubs in Wrexham serving until 22:00 GMT after the firebreak while pubs in Chester are still closed.

If that attracts people over the border "is that going to create problems for the police in Wales?" he said.

Mr Drakeford said he raised the issue with UK Cabinet Minister Michael Gove on Saturday.

"He said it would be illegal for people in England to travel outside England during the lockdown period they will have," said Mr Drakeford.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething told BBC Breakfast that England's restrictions, as he understood them, meant "normal travel won't be possible into England because of their four week decision".

A new set of "national rules" across Wales is due to be announced on Monday.

The furlough extension has been a bone of contention between the Welsh and UK governments.

It was due to end on Saturday and be replaced with the new, less generous Job Support Scheme.

Mr Drakeford previously asked the Treasury to extend furlough for one week to coincide with the Welsh firebreak but his requests were turned down.

Mr Sunak also declined a request for the new Job Support Scheme (JSS) - which will cover 67% of wages when it replaces furlough - to be brought forward.

The Welsh Government said it had offered to pay the cost for the difference between furlough and the JSS, which a minister estimated was £11m.

But on Saturday, the furlough scheme was extended until England's lockdown ends on 2 December, which will include a return to the previous 80% level.

Under the scheme, the government pays 80% of the salaries of staff who were kept on by their employer while unable to work, covering wages of up to £2,500 a month.

The furlough extension and the English lockdown has to be approved by MPs - they will vote on the measures on Wednesday.

Ian Price, Wales' director of business group the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said a lot of businesses had already made decisions in terms of redundancies, ahead of the furlough extension announcement.

"It won't have stopped those decisions being made but I think it'll ensure that not more people are made redundant during the month of November," he told BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement.

Plaid Cymru MP Ben Lake said: "I welcome the chancellor's swift action to support businesses in England, but it is regrettable that Welsh workers were not prioritised in the same way.

"People across Wales have been made redundant in recent days due to the UK government's dithering."

Meanwhile, Conservative member of the Senedd (MS), Andrew RT Davies, said society needed to learn to live with coronavirus and avoid lockdowns that harm the economy.

"I still don't believe that a lockdown is the solution," he told the BBC's Politics Wales.

"Actually a lockdown is only introduced when governments have lost control of the situation and we have to accept that."

Mark Hadley says the England announcement - even with furlough - will hit his family's holiday accommodation business hard.

They run a self-catering and guesthouse site in Llandovery in Carmarthenshire.

He said cancelled bookings at Llanerchindda Farm will now top £250,000 this year, due to Covid restrictions.

He said that was on an annual turnover of £340,000 - so it amounts to almost 75% of his business.

"Ninety-nine per cent plus of our business comes from England," he said.

"Now that people will not be able to travel from England, it really means that we will be remaining pretty much closed right until the beginning of December at the very least.

"It's a worst case scenario. We lost out the half-term weeks, which we cancelled over £20,000 of bookings over those two weeks and three weekends. 

"We missed out on that and now we'll miss out again because we can't get anyone coming from over the border. It's a double whammy for us."

He said the problems he faces are being mirrored across the tourism and hospitality sector in Wales, but he understood governments both in Wales and the UK were under pressure to act.

"It's such a difficult situation isn't it? I can see there is a massive health agenda and a massive potential problem for the NHS. I would not like to be in their boat," he said.

"Could it have been handled better? Well, maybe."

Mr Hadley said he welcomed the extension to the furlough scheme during the England lockdown, as it meant his staff were "secure for now".

But he added: "Support for business, although they make it out to be massive, it is minimal.

"For our compensation for the firebreak we're guarenteed hopefully a £1,000 - possibly £3,000 if we get the discretionary top-up - but nobody in our local authority can tell me how they work that discretionary amount out.

"We will be out of pocket, there are no two ways about it."

Non-essential shops and hospitality will have to close in England for four weeks, until 2 December.

But unlike the restrictions in spring, schools, colleges and universities will be allowed to stay open.

After 2 December, the restrictions would be eased and regions would go back to the tiered system, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

Elsewhere, Scotland's new tiered system of restrictions will come into force at 06:00 on Monday.

In Northern Ireland, pubs and restaurants were closed for four weeks on 16 October with the exception of takeaways and deliveries. Schools were closed for two weeks.