HMRC\u2019s legal duty of confidentiality applies to information about specific CJRS claims. The rules of the CJRS allowed HMRC to publish details of CJRS claims made between December 2020 to September 2021 for a 12-month period only.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4399", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Victoria Atkins"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Louth and Horncastle"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Victoria Atkins"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-05-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-05-09T16:08:26.76Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2023-05-02", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library of the House a list of companies that received payments under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/413", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Hilary Benn"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Leeds Central"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Hilary Benn"} ], "uin" : "183324"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1562910", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1562910/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme protected millions of UK jobs at a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty.<\/p>
<\/p>
His Majesty\u2019s Treasury (HMT) and His Majesty\u2019s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) jointly published an interim evaluation in September 2022, looking at the scheme between March and October 2020. A final evaluation, covering the full duration of the scheme and a Value for Money assessment, will be published in 2023.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4726", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Baroness Penn"} } , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Baroness Penn"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2023-01-05", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2023-01-05T14:20:13.533Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-12-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "2"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25277", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Lords"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the furlough scheme on (1) relationships between employers and employees, and (2) the number of older people leaving the workforce; and in any such assessment, what links they have found between these factors.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4186", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lord Monks"} } , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Lord Monks"} ], "uin" : "HL4424"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1536793", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1536793/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The expenditure incurred by HMRC in the development of the Coronavirus Job Retention Bonus Scheme were around £500,000.<\/p>
<\/p>
The majority of these costs related to the normal policy development process. The costs were not disclosed as a constructive loss in the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts for 2020 to 2021, in line with HM Treasury guidance.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4399", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Victoria Atkins"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Louth and Horncastle"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Victoria Atkins"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-11-01", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-11-01T17:44:26.567Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-10-27", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the costs incurred by HMRC in relation to preparations for the introduction of the Coronavirus Job Retention Bonus scheme, in the period from the announcement of the scheme on 8 July 2020 to the announcement that the scheme would not proceed on 5 November 2020; and whether these costs have been treated for accounting purposes as a constructive loss.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1536", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Emily Thornberry"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Islington South and Finsbury"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Emily Thornberry"} ], "uin" : "72954"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1457751", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1457751/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The Government has been clear throughout the pandemic that HMRC should prioritise getting vital support to businesses and their employees.<\/p>
<\/p>
HMRC designed the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) to prevent fraud before any payments were made, in both how they set the eligibility criteria and the claim process itself.<\/p>
<\/p>
To qualify for CJRS, employers needed a Pay As You Earn scheme and to submit a Real Time Information (RTI) return. Additionally, for claims with 100 employees or more, employers were required to provide details of the individual employees\u2019 wages.<\/p>
<\/p>
HMRC also put in place a series of checks on claims before they were paid, so they blocked those that were highly indicative of criminal activity.<\/p>
<\/p>
As a result, an estimated 21,500 ineligible claims for CJRS were automatically blocked from entering the claims process.<\/p>
<\/p>
In addition to those that were blocked, a further 3,500 claims for CJRS were rejected in 2020-21 as they showed indications of being linked to criminal activity.<\/p>
<\/p>
Further checks also included checking claim amounts against employment information already returned to HMRC and capping any excessive CJRS claims to the correct entitlement amount.<\/p>
<\/p>
Details of HMRC\u2019s prepayment compliance activity for 2021-22 will be released in HMRC\u2019s Annual Report and Accounts later this year. This will provide the information on blocked and rejected claims for 2021-22.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4517", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Lucy Frazer"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South East Cambridgeshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Lucy Frazer"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-04-26", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-04-26T15:12:34.31Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-04-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many claims were excluded or rejected from the Government covid-19 furlough scheme; and if he will summarise the reasons for exclusion.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1528", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Sir Mike Penning"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hemel Hempstead"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Sir Mike Penning"} ], "uin" : "153820"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1437512", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1437512/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Information is not available on the trends of former employees who did not receive furlough payments. HMRC publishes statistics on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS); the latest release was published on 16 December 2021: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-16-december-2021<\/a>.<\/p> <\/p> CJRS was available to all employers with a Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system and to all employees on PAYE, regardless of their employment contract. The key eligibility criteria was that employees had to be on payroll the day before the scheme was announced, so 19 March 2020 for the first and second iterations of CJRS, 30 October 2020 for the third iteration of CJRS, and 2 March 2021 for the fourth iteration of CJRS. Employers also had to have previously notified HMRC, via a PAYE Real Time Information (RTI) submission, about a payment of earnings for that employee.<\/p> <\/p> CJRS grants covered any type of employment contract and employers could claim the grant for the hours their employees and workers on payroll were not working, calculated by reference to their usual hours worked in a claim period. Flexible furlough meant employers could work for any amount of time and any work pattern, while still being able to claim CJRS grant for the hours not worked with reference to hours the employee would usually have worked in that period.<\/p> <\/p> However, employers could not claim for any days from 1 December 2020 during which the furloughed employee was serving a contractual or statutory notice period for the employer. This included people serving notice of retirement or resignation. Normal redundancy rules and protections would have applied in these circumstances.<\/p> <\/p> Ultimately, it was for the employer to decide whether to offer furlough to their employees, and claim the CJRS grant, according to the needs of their business. The employer was under no obligation to access the scheme.<\/p> <\/p> If an employee believes that the employer did make a claim on their behalf, but did not pass this on to the employee, they should tell HMRC.<\/p> <\/p>