As of Sunday 26 July, 9.5 million workers have been furloughed by 1.2 million employers. In total, the value of claims under the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) stands at £31.7bn.

This is the same number of furloughed workers as a week ago but the total value of claims to cover staff wages under the scheme has jumped from £28.7bn to £31.7bn. The government releases weekly furlough figures every Tuesday.

Support for the self-employed

Claims under the first tranche of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme closed on Monday 13 July.

Up until 19 July, 2.7m self-employed workers had claimed under the scheme, with the total value of claims standing at £7.8bn.

A second grant will be available for self-employed workers from August.

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This second grant will be payable at a level equivalent to 70% of the taxpayer’s annual average profits, capped at £2,190 per month, so the maximum amount payable will be £6,570 to cover three months.

Support for businesses

Separate figures from the Treasury show that more than £49bn has been given in loans to struggling businesses.

Under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, 1,113,312 businesses had received £33.68bn in loans as of 26 July. More than 1.35 million applications for the scheme have been submitted.

As part of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, £12.65bn has been approved to help more than 57,000 businesses, with nearly 116,000 applications having been made under the scheme.

Turning to the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the Treasury statistics revealed £3.1bn of loans have been approved for 457 businesses, with 872 applications having been received.

Stephen Pegge, managing director of commercial finance at UK Finance, said: “Today’s figures demonstrate the unprecedented levels of support provided by the industry and are testament to the hard work of staff on the ground. More than £49bn has been approved so far to almost 1.2 million businesses of all sizes through the government-backed lending schemes.

“This support is just one part of the industry’s wider plan to help businesses in the UK, including commercial lending, capital repayment holidays, extended overdrafts and asset-based finance.

“It’s important to remember that any lending provided under government-backed schemes is a debt not a grant, and so firms should carefully consider their ability to repay before applying.”