Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

The government announced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) in March 2020. Employers were able to claim CJRS support for employees furloughed from the start of March. Between 1 July 2020 and 31 October 2020, except in certain exceptional circumstances, staff who had not already been furloughed under the scheme could not be included in claims for support. The government then announced an extension to the CJRS starting in November 2020. 

The provisional data for the end of March 2021 state that:

• There were almost 106,000 employments were furloughed in the North East LEP area
• this was lower than in January or February but was 50,000 higher than at the end of October, when the CJRS extension began
• in total, about 312,000 employments in the North East LEP area had been furloughed at some point since March 2020
• the latest take-up rate for the North East LEP area was 13.2%, lower than that of England as a whole (14%)
• about 39% of eligible North East employments had been furloughed at any point, the same rate as nationally

Within the North East:

• the latest take-up rates were highest in Newcastle, Gateshead and Northumberland (14.8%, 14.1% and 13.8%, respectively)
• the take-up rates for the entire scheme since March were highest in Gateshead (41%), Sunderland and Newcastle (both 40%)
• each of the 22 North East constituency areas had 3,900 or more furloughed employments at the end of March
• they all had 11,500 or more furloughed employments during the scheme so far
• in both cases, the constituencies of Newcastle upon Tyne Central, Gateshead and North Tyneside had the highest numbers of furloughed employments

Information about furloughed employments by sector shows that, at the end of March 2021 in the North East LEP area:

• Over a quarter (26.1%) of furloughed employments were in accommodation and food services, a slightly higher proportion than nationally (24.5%)
• a further 18.1% were in retail and wholesale but this was a lower proportion than nationally (19.5%)
• almost a tenth (9.6%) were in manufacturing, a higher percentage than in England as a whole (6.5%) 
• arts and recreation accounted for 8.0%, with 6.9% in business administrative support services (England 7.2% and 8.3% respectively).

Within the North East, the proportion of furloughed employments:

• was particular high for accommodation and food services in Newcastle and Northumberland
• was highest for retail and wholesale in Gateshead and North Tyneside
• was highest for manufacturing in South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham
• was higher for arts and recreation in Northumberland, Newcastle and Sunderland
• was highest for administrative support services in Sunderland and Newcastle.

The latest data gives information about the male/female split in furloughed employments and, at a regional level only, the proportion of fully and partially furloughed employments. At the end of March 2021:

• Just over 52% of furloughed workers in the North East LEP area were female, a similar percentage to nationally
• this was higher proportion than at the end of July 2020 when only just over 50% were female in the North East
• the proportion of female furloughed workers was highest in Northumberland (almost 56%) and County Durham (almost 54%)
• about 71% of furloughed employments in the North East region were fully furloughed, a slightly higher proportion than nationally (70%)
• the number of fully furloughed employments was 155% higher than on 31 October, compared to a 26% growth in partially furloughs.