By Boris Johnson’s government is “open minded” about extending the furlough scheme, a senior member of the cabinet has claimed.
Mr Gove said the furlough initiative, which sees the taxpayer pay cash towards workers’ wages, had been a “huge success” that was only possible “thanks to the broad shoulders of the UK Treasury”.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in March that the furlough scheme, which pays 80 per cent of employees’ wages, would be extended until the end of September.
Employers will be expected to pay 10 per cent towards the payments for hours staff do not work in July – rising to 20 per cent in August and September as more businesses reopen.
The cabinet minister claimed “extra funding for everyone will continue, and it is important we all learn from each other about how that money should be spent.”
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The rearranged meeting was due to take place last week but was postponed after the first ministers of Wales and Scotland pulled out because they wanted it to be a “meaningful discussion with substantive outcomes”.
Both Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford subsequently wrote to the Prime Minister asking for more substance and clarity about the summit.
The Scottish Government has voiced concerns about a possible return to austerity from the Conservatives at Westminster, but Mr Gove told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “We’ll be spending more.
“We’ll be spending more on the NHS, we will be spending more on education, we will be spending more on criminal justice, because in all of these areas it is absolutely vital that we build back better.
“Extra funding for everyone will continue, and it is important we all learn from each other about how that money should be spent.”
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