A third of New Forest workers placed on furlough in July – the most in Hampshire

ALMOST a third of all workers in the New Forest were placed on furlough in July – more than any other local authority area in Hampshire, figures have revealed.

The latest district council update said 31% of employees made use of the government’s job retention scheme, driven largely by high uptake from the accommodation and food sector where nationally 73% of employees were furloughed in the same period.

The revelation caused NFDC’s cabinet member for the economy, Cllr Michael Harris, to sound a warning: “These figures demonstrate that the impact of Covid-19 on local business is far from over.

“We have been able to reduce some of these effects, for example through the administration of £42m government grant funding.”

“But we need to continue to work to ensure that our local businesses and workforce are provided with the support they need to remain trading with their existing workforce in place.”

Cllr Harris’s concern was echoed by Matthew Lawson, New Forest Business Partnership chairman.

“With one third of the New Forest’s workforce having been signed up to the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, local businesses are making very difficult decisions about further redundancies and who they can bring back to work,” Mr Lawson said.

“That is happening particularly in our local tourism and hospitality sector, which relied so much on the furlough scheme for their survival during the period of lockdown and subsequent recovery.

“As the summer season draws to a close, many of our local hotels and restaurants will be very wary of the approaching low season and need all the support they can get from local residents.”

An NFDC spokeswoman said figures for the exact cost of the local furlough uptake was not available. But she added the annual average salary for workers in New Forest District was £29,754 across full and part-time, work for male and females.

The NFDC update came as the job retention scheme changed last week to cover 70% of employee wages, ahead of the scheme winding down to its eventual end date of 1st October.

The council also reminded firms they have until 30th September to register their claims with the government’s Eat Out to Help Out costs. Rural small and medium businesses can also apply to NFDC for grants from a £82,000 support fund.

Further help is available via two arts funds open to freelancers. Individuals working in the theatre can apply for up to £1,000 from the Theatre Artists’ Fund, and the Musicians Hardship Fund offers £500 grants to players not able to work since March due to venue closures.

Totton College has engaged with a new government programme that offers firms £1,000 to provide a voluntary work placement to a trainee working towards the Level 2 Business Administration Certificate.

*A previous version of the story said a third of NFDC workers had been furloughed. The A&T is happy to correct the error