Decision details

The governments job retention scheme was initiated to assist organisations in response to covid-19 allowing employers to place employee on furlough with the employees agreement and the government would pay 80% of the wages upto £2,500 per month. Eligibility for the scheme depends on whether the organisation is public funded. The Council operates a number of Leisure and culture facilities which are funded by sales, fees and charges, there are also a number of trading areas where staff have not been able to work due to site closures e.g. construction.
Furlough leave must last at least three weeks and the employee cannot work during that time period.
The decision to be made is whether to apply for the job retention scheme.
Financial/staffing/health and safety (including virus transmission risks)/service delivery impacts/other risks and impacts considered:
The first application for furlough if approved would be £126k and would help offset the lost income. It would affect approximately 130 staff.
Staff would not be able to work for the council during the furlough period however they can be called back if required.
Further applications could be made if successful
Equality impacts:
The Furlough of staff was not considered to have any negative impacts in terms of equality

Decision made to apply for the scheme to offset expenditure and mitigate in part the financial pressures faced due to COVID-19.

Where needed, staff in these areas have been reallocated to other duties, the only staff to be furloughed are those where there hasn’t been any work, given the closure of venues/sites.