Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme statistics: 6 May 2021
Published 6 May 2021
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Overview
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was announced on 20 March 2020 and has supported employers in paying their employees during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This is the eleventh release of Official Statistics on the CJRS. This release provides analysis of claims for periods up to 31 March 2021. The data used includes claims submitted to HMRC by 14 April 2021.
The data for March 2021 is not yet fully complete as while claims relating to March 2021 should have been filed by 14 April 2021, employers could file claims later with the agreement of HMRC if they had a reasonable excuse. Claims for March 2021 can also be amended until 28 April 2021. Together, these factors are likely to have a small effect on the statistics.
Based on figures for February, which have been revised since the previous release, it is estimated that the number of employments on furlough reported for March 2021 could increase by around 2%. The March 2021 figures should therefore be considered as provisional and will be revised in a future release.
We will continue to publish statistics on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the CJRS extension in future months. These statistics are Experimental Statistics and are subject to revisions. Further information on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the compilation of these statistics and the meaning of the term Experimental Statistics is provided later in this publication.
See guidance on applying for support from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and further details.
Contact details
For queries or feedback on this publication, please contact:
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Next release
The next release will be published on 3 June 2021.
Main points
The key points from this release covering the period to 31 March 2021 are below. Figures for March 2021 are provisional and subject to revision as additional claims for the period are received.
- provisional figures show there has been a decrease in levels of furlough between February and March 2021 with 4.2 million employments on furlough at 31 March 2021
- since the start of the scheme a cumulative total of 11.5 million jobs have been supported by the CJRS at various times. This is across all claims submitted to HMRC by 14 April 2021
- the levels of furlough seen in these figures reflect the changes to restrictions on individuals, households and businesses across the UK since the autumn
- at 28 February, 41% of employers had staff on furlough. Provisional estimates show that this decreased to 39% of employers at 31 March 2021. 16% of employments eligible for furlough were on furlough at 28 February. Provisional estimates show this decreased to 14% at 31 March 2021
- provisional figures show that all sectors saw a reduction in levels of furlough between 28 February and 31 March 2021
- the accommodation and food services sector had the highest take-up rate at 28 February at 70% of eligible employers putting staff on furlough. Provisional estimates show this decreased to 67% of employers at 31 March 2021. 1.19 million employments were on furlough in this sector on 28 February, with provisional figures showing this decreased to 1.06 million on 31 March 2021
- staff on furlough in the wholesale and retail sector peaked on 24 April at 1.85 million employments on furlough. Latest figures show the number of employments on furlough decreased to 826,000 employments on furlough at 31 March 2021 from 933,000 at 28 February
- a more detailed breakdown of furlough rates by detailed industry groups shows the beverage serving activities sector had the highest proportion of eligible employments on furlough at 28 February, with a take-up rate of 92%. Provisional figures show this decreased to 78% on 31 March 2021
- this was followed by the hotels and similar accommodation sector which had 75% of its eligible employments on furlough at 28 February. Provisional figures for 31 March 2021 show this decreased to 70%
- the ten industry groups with the highest take up rates at 31 March 2021 are passenger air transport, hotels and similar accommodation, holiday and short-stay accommodation, beverage serving activities, photographic activities, travel agency and tour operator activities, gambling and betting activities, sports activities, amusement and recreation activities, and other personal service activities
- the restaurants and mobile food service activities sector had the highest number of employments on furlough at 28 February with 447,000 employments on furlough. Provisional figures show this sector had 410,000 employments on furlough at 31 March 2021
- in the passenger air transport sector, there were 200 employers (62% of employers eligible) with 36,000 employments (57% of eligible employments) on furlough at 28 February. At 31 March 2021, provisional figures show this remained similar with 35,000 employments on furlough
- medium and large sized employers have the lowest take up rates. Provisional figures for 31 March 2021 show that employers with 250 or more employees have 8% of eligible employees on furlough in comparison with the average 14%. Employers with 2 to 4 employees had the highest proportion of eligible employees on furlough at 34%
- across the UK, where it was possible to link the data, 2.37 million females were on furlough at 28 February compared with 2.17 million males. Provisional estimates show a decrease with 2.12 million females on furlough at 31 March 2021 and 1.95 million males
- there was broad consistency in furlough rates across the nations and regions of the UK at the end of February with London having the highest take-up rate of 18% against the UK average of 16%. Provisional estimates show that this was also true at the end of March 2021 with London having the highest take-up rate at 16% against a UK average of 14%
- the ten local authorities with the highest take up rates at 31 March 2021 are Eden and South Lakeland in Cumbria, Scarborough, Isle of Wight, Crawley and the London authorities of Brent, Ealing Haringey, Hounslow and Newham
- the under 18 age band had the highest take up rate for both female and males at 28 February, 41% and 30% respectively. Provisional estimates for 31 March 2021 show that the under 18 age band continued to have the highest take-up rates at 38% for females and 28% for males. Employees aged 18 to 24 and 65 and over were also more likely than average to be on furlough
- 1.29 million employments were on partial furlough at 28 February, 27% of the total employments on furlough. Provisional estimates show this figure decreased to 1.22 million employments on partial furlough at 31 March 2021, 29% of the total employments on furlough
About the data in this release
The data used in this release comprises the CJRS claims made up to 14 April 2021. Where possible, this data has been matched with other HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) data to enable additional analysis to be presented. Where we have been unable to match the CJRS claims with other HMRC data we have denoted this as ‘unknown’.
This release presents the total number of employments on furlough each day from March 2020 to March 2021, as well as figures for use at of CJRS extension at 28 February and 31 March 2021. This release also presents the cumulative number of PAYE schemes claiming and number of employments on furlough since the start of the scheme up to 14 April 2021, also broken down by local authority and Parliamentary constituency.
The data presented in this release comes from combining details about furlough from the job level data and the total number of staff on furlough included in each claim.
The figures in this release contain a downward revision to the number of employments eligible for CJRS extension. This is due to a refinement in the methodology and results in a small increase in our estimates of the employer and employment take up rates.
In the CJRS statistics release including claims to 14 June, we will publish final figures for the number of people on furlough each month of CJRS extension (to end-April). This will include take-up rates using the refined methodology for the eligible population. We will also publish revised figures for the eligible population for the original scheme with a future release of these statistics.
These statistics have been developed taking into account user feedback and requests. We would welcome any further feedback from users. This should be sent to CJRS.Statistics.Enquiries@hmrc.gov.uk. Responses will then be taken into consideration when developing future releases.
For these statistics, an ‘employer’ is defined as a PAYE scheme, and ‘employments’ are defined according to the CJRS criteria. Further details are within the background section.
The figures for March 2021 are based on claims received to the deadline of 14 April 2021. In some circumstances, late claims can be made with a reasonable excuse and in agreement with HMRC. Claims may also be amended until 28 April 2021. Therefore, the data for March 2021 is incomplete and should be considered to be provisional. It is estimated that the overall total number of employments on furlough in March 2021 will be in the region of 2% higher once all claims are submitted and revisions applied.
The first three releases of these statistics, published in June, July and August 2020, reported estimates of the total number of jobs that had been on furlough at any time over the March to June period, based on the latest data available at the time of those releases. With the introduction of flexible furlough on 1 July, this statistical release series began reporting estimates of the number of jobs on furlough each day, with additional breakdowns for the last day in each month.
Cumulative totals
This section of the release presents the cumulative number of jobs on furlough since the start of the scheme in March 2020 up to 14 April 2021. It also includes figures for the cumulative number of PAYE schemes that have claimed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the total amount claimed.
Table 1 shows that there have been 11.5 million unique jobs supported by the CJRS since its inception. This is a cumulative figure and covers all jobs on furlough at any time since the start of the scheme.
As described in detail in the methodology section of this release, the methodology used to calculate the number of jobs on furlough since the start of the scheme was improved for the February release of these statistics. Since February, these figures are now based on job-level data instead of the totals from each claim form submitted by employers. As a result, the figures in table 1 are not directly comparable with the management information published before the February release.
This methodology change does not affect published figures on the number of jobs on furlough at the end of each month, or the more detailed statistics on the number of jobs on furlough each day.
An individual employed by more than one employer is counted once for each employment from which they have been put on furlough. Two individuals who have been employed in the same role with an employer at different times are counted as two separate employments. In this release the terms ‘employments’ and ‘jobs’ are used interchangeably.
The most recent figures in table 1 are based on claims received up to 14 April 2021, the deadline for claims relating to March 2021. As well as claims for furlough during March 2021 and earlier, these latest figures also include employments on furlough after March 2021 where the claim was received by 14 April 2021.
Table 1 also includes the total number of employer PAYE schemes that had claimed support up to 14 April 2021 and the value of claims submitted. The figures for the number and value of claims do not take account of voluntary repayments nor remove claims not paid for compliance reasons. Claims cancelled by employers within 72 hours of making the claim are excluded.
All these figures together with the figures previously published as management information on the main HMRC COVID-19 statistics page can be found in table 1 of the spreadsheet that accompanies this release. In addition, figures on the cumulative number of jobs put on furlough broken down by local authority and Parliamentary constituency can also be found in tables 1a and 1b of the spreadsheet that accompanies this release.
Table 1: Cumulative claims and jobs furloughed since the start of the CJRS
| Date | Cumulative number of jobs furloughed (million) | Cumulative number of employers (million) | Cumulative amount claimed (£ billion) |
|---|---|---|---|
| At 15 February 2021 | 11.2 | 1.3 | 53.8 |
| At 15 March 2021 | 11.4 | 1.3 | 57.7 |
| At 14 April 2021 | 11.5 | 1.3 | 61.3 |
Source: HMRC CJRS data
Employments on furlough over time
This section of the release presents the number of employments on furlough each day from the scheme’s start up to 31 March 2021.
The chart in figure 1 shows the number of jobs furloughed under claims for support to the CJRS. The underlying data for this figure can be found in the accompanying spreadsheet.
Key points to note from figure 1 are:
- provisional figures show there has been a decrease in levels of furlough between February and March 2021 with 4.2 million on furlough at 31 March 2021, down from 4.7 million on 28 February
- before this, the number of employments on furlough peaked at 8.9 million on 8 May 2020. This figure fell to 2.4 million at 31 October and then rose again to 4.9 million employments on furlough at 31 January 2021
- the levels of furlough seen in these figures reflect the changes to restrictions on individuals, households and businesses across the UK since the autumn
Figure 1: Total employments on furlough, 23 March 2020 to 31 March 2021
After remaining broadly similar through January and February, the number of employments on furlough decreased gradually throughout March 2021.
Source: HMRC CJRS data
Employments on furlough over time by industry
This section breaks down the overall time series included above by the employer’s industrial sector. Figure 2 is a set of charts, one for each of 15 industrial sectors experiencing higher numbers of jobs on furlough. The underlying data for this figure and 6 other sector categories not shown in the chart can be found in the accompanying spreadsheet.
The key points to note from figure 2 are:
- provisional figures show that all sectors have seen a reduction in levels of furlough between 28 February and 31 March 2021
- furlough peaked in the wholesale and retail sector on 24 April 2020 at 1.85 million employments on furlough. This decreased to 932,500 at 28 February. Provisional figures show this declined again with 825,600 employments on furlough at 31 March 2021
- accommodation and food services peaked at 1.65 million employments on furlough on 10 April. Latest figures show 1.19 million employments on furlough at 28 February, decreasing through March to a provisional estimate of 1.06 million at 31 March 2021
- the manufacturing sector had a peak of 911,000 employments on furlough on 17 April. This decreased to 296,700 employments on furlough at 28 February. Provisional estimates show that this figure dropped to 273,100 at 31 March 2021
- in construction, furlough peaked on 14 April with 723,600 employments on furlough and at 28 February this figure was at 231,100. Provisional estimates show that at the end of March the number of employments on furlough had decreased to 196,500
- furlough in the arts and entertainment sector peaked later than other sectors on 15 May with 455,100 employments on furlough on that date. This figure decreased to 316,500 employments on furlough at 28 February. Provisional figures show that this figure decreased slightly in March with 298,000 employments on furlough at 31 March 2021
Figure 2: Total employments on furlough by industry (millions) (largest 15 sectors), 23 March 2020 to 31 March 2021
Source: HMRC CJRS and PAYE Real Time Information data
Employments on furlough over time by employer size
In addition to the sectoral breakdown we also provide a breakdown of the number of employments on furlough per day by employer size. The employer size has been calculated based on an estimate of the number of employments eligible to be on furlough. We assume a PAYE scheme to be the equivalent of an employer.
Presented in figure 3 is a set of charts, one for each employer size band. The underlying data for these charts can be found in the accompanying spreadsheet.
The key points to note from figure 3 are:
- across most employer sizes, the number of employments on furlough was broadly similar between January and February and then decreased in March 2021
- at 28 February, 1.55 million employments were put on furlough by large employers with 250 or more employees. Provisional estimates show that the number of employments on furlough decreased to 1.31 million at 31 March 2021
- employers with 20 to 49 employments had 636,800 employments on furlough at 28 February. Provisional estimates show that the number of employments on furlough decreased through March to 565,400 at 31 March 2021
- employers with one employment had 194,100 employments on furlough at 28 February. Provisional figures show that this decreased in March to 181,600 employments on furlough at 31 March 2021
Figure 3: Total employments on furlough (millions) by employer size (number of employees), 23 March 2020 to 31 March 2021
Source: HMRC CJRS and PAYE Real Time Information data
Employments on furlough over time by country and region
This section provides a geographic breakdown of the number of employments on furlough each day from 1 July 2020 up to 31 March 2021. This is based on the residential address information that HMRC holds for employees. This does not directly translate to the employee’s usual place of work, or employer’s centre of operations which may be in a different region.
For example, an employee who lives in Wales and normally commutes daily to work in Bristol would be included within the count for Wales, rather than for South West England. At present these statistics are only available for 1 July onwards (see methodology section for more information). Figures for March should be considered to be provisional.
Presented in figure 4 is a set of charts, one for each region. The underlying data for these charts can be found in the accompanying spreadsheet.
The key points to note from figure 4 are:
- across all English regions, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland the number of employments on furlough decreased slightly from January to February 2021. Provisional figures show that levels of furlough decreased more significantly in March 2021
- 3.80 million employments were on furlough in England at 28 February. Provisional estimates show that the number of employments on furlough decreased in March to 3.41 million at 31 March 2021
- in London – the English region with the most staff on furlough from July 2020 to March 2021, there were 722,000 employments on furlough at 28 February. Provisional estimates show levels of furlough decreased in March with 654,600 employments on furlough at 31 March 2021
- the number of employments on furlough in Scotland on 28 February was 368,400. Provisional figures show a decrease in the number of employments on furlough to 327,100 at 31 March 2021
- the number of employments on furlough in Wales was 177,400 at 28 February 2021. Provisional estimates show the number of employments on furlough decreased in March to 159,600 at 31 March 2021
- on 28 February, the number of employments on furlough in Northern Ireland was 108,600 Provisional figures show that the number of employments on furlough decreased to 99,400 at 31 March 2021
Figure 4: Total employments on furlough (millions) by country and region, 1 July 2020 to 31 March 2021
Source: HMRC CJRS and PAYE Real Time Information data
Employments on furlough over time by gender
This section provides analysis showing the number of employments on furlough each day from 1 July 2020 up to 31 March 2021, broken down by the claimants’ gender. The underlying data for figure 5 can be found in the accompanying spreadsheet. At present these statistics are only available for 1 July onwards (see the methodology section for more information).
The key points to note from figure 5 are:
- since 1 July, more employments have been put on furlough with female job holders than where the employee was male
- for employments where the employee was female, there were 2.37 million employments on furlough at 28 February. Provisional figures show that this decreased throughout March to 2.12 million at 31 March 2021
- for employments where the employee was male, there were 2.17 million employments on furlough at 28 February. Provisional figures show the number of employments on furlough decreased to 1.95 million at 31 March 2021
Figure 5: Total employments on furlough by gender, 1 July 2020 to 31 March 2021
Source: HMRC CJRS and PAYE Real Time Information data
Employments on furlough over time by age
This section provides analysis for the number of employments on furlough each day from 1 July 2020 up to 31 March 2021, broken down by age band. The claimant’s age is calculated at 1 March 2020 for employments on furlough up to 31 October, and at 1 November 2020 for employments on furlough from 1 November onwards.
Figure 6 is a set of charts, one for each age band. The underlying data for figure 6 can be found in the accompanying spreadsheet. At present these statistics are only available for 1 July onwards (see methodology section for more information).
The key points to note from figure 6 are:
- across most age bands the number of employments on furlough initially increased at the beginning of February 2021 and then decreased slightly in comparison to January 2021 at the end of the month. The 65 and over age band was an exception, where levels of furlough remained broadly consistent throughout February
- provisional figures show the number of employments on furlough in March 2021 decreased across all age bands
- for employments where the employee was aged 25 to 34, the number of employments on furlough was 1.03 million at 28 February. Provisional figures show that this figure dropped to 920,000 at 31 March 2021
- the number of employments on furlough with employees in the 18 to 24 age band was 733,700 at 28 February. At 31 March 2021, provisional figures show that 659,000 employments were on furlough in the 18-24 age band
- where the employee was 65 or over, the number of employments on furlough was 186,300 at 28 February. Provisional estimates show that the number of employments on furlough decreased in March to 170,400 at 31 March 2021
Figure 6: Total employments on furlough (millions) by age of employee, 1 July 2020 to 31 March 2021
Source: HMRC CJRS and PAYE Real Time Information data
Employments on furlough over time by type of furlough
This section provides a breakdown of the overall time series by employments on full and partial furlough. On 1 July, the option was introduced for employers to furlough their employees for part of their usual hours, with the employee free to work the remainder. Therefore, the time series shown in figure 7 starts at 1 July.
The underlying data for figure 7 can be found in the accompanying spreadsheet.
The key points to note in figure 7 are:
- the number of employments on furlough on a full-time basis was 3.28 million at 28 February. Provisional figures show this decreased in March to 2.87 million employments on full furlough at 31 March 2021
- the number of employments claimed for while the employee was working some of their usual hours has remained steady between when this was made possible on 1 July and October.
- at 28 February there were 1.29 million employments on partial furlough at 28 February. Provisional figures show this decreased in March to 1.22 million employments on partial furlough at 31 March 2021
- this means that a lower proportion of jobs were on partial furlough in the first three months of 2021 than in November and December 2020, which is consistent with the greater restrictions on business activity in place during the beginning of 2021
Figure 7: Total employments furloughed by furlough type, 1 July 2020 to 31 March 2021
Source: HMRC CJRS data
Employer size at 31 March 2021
Where it has been possible to match CJRS data to Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI), we have estimated the size of each employer in terms of number of employees potentially eligible for CJRS support.
For this data, we have assumed that PAYE scheme is the equivalent to an employer. For some employers, this is not an exact one-to-one equivalent. For example, some organisations operate multiple payrolls for different groups of employees and in other situations, a group of companies may pool their payrolls together under one PAYE scheme. However, in our view PAYE schemes provides a reasonable proxy for employers for the purposes of this release.
The employer size has been calculated based on an estimate of the number of employments eligible to be on furlough.
The key points to note from tables 2a and 2b are:
- at 28 February, 41% of employers had put staff on furlough. Provisional estimates show that this decreased to 39% of employers at 31 March 2021
- as at 28 February, employers with 20-49 employees were most likely to have claimed under CJRS to support the furlough of staff, with 62% of employers of this size having at least 1 employee on furlough. Provisional estimates show this was still true at 31 March 2021 with 58% of these employers having staff on furlough
- the figures for the number and value of claims do not take account of voluntary repayments nor remove claims not paid for compliance reasons. Claims cancelled by employers within 72 hours of making the claim are excluded
Table 2a: CJRS claims by employer size as at 28 February 2021
| Employer size | Employers furloughing staff | Take-up rateǂ | Value of claims made for periods from 1 November to 28 February (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 194,100 | 27% | 571 |
| 2 to 4 | 317,100 | 45% | 1,925 |
| 5 to 9 | 136,900 | 54% | 1,749 |
| 10 to 19 | 75,000 | 55% | 1,678 |
| 20 to 49 | 53,100 | 62% | 2,067 |
| 50 to 99 | 15,500 | 57% | 986 |
| 100 to 249 | 9,400 | 58% | 1,009 |
| 250+ | 6,300 | 58% | 4,099 |
| Unknown | 400 | - | 6 |
| Total | 807,800 | 41% | 14,091 |
Table 2b: CJRS claims by employer size as at 31 March 2021 (provisional)
| Employer size | Employers furloughing staff | Take-up rateǂ | Value of claims made for periods from 1 November 2020 to 31 March 2021 (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 181,600 | 25% | 714 |
| 2 to 4 | 300,000 | 43% | 2,412 |
| 5 to 9 | 128,400 | 51% | 2,190 |
| 10 to 19 | 70,200 | 52% | 2,101 |
| 20 to 49 | 49,700 | 58% | 2,581 |
| 50 to 99 | 14,600 | 53% | 1,229 |
| 100 to 249 | 8,900 | 55% | 1,256 |
| 250+ | 6,000 | 55% | 5,174 |
| Unknown | 400 | - | 9 |
| Total | 759,700 | 39% | 17,667 |
ǂ The take up rates are based on employments eligible for the CJRS extension.
Source: HMRC CJRS and PAYE Real Time Information data
The key points to note from tables 2c and 2d are:
- 16% of employments eligible for furlough were on furlough at 28 February. Provisional estimates show this decreased to 14% at 31 March 2021
- employers with 250 or more employees had a total of 1.55 million employments on furlough at 28 February, the highest of all employer sizes. Provisional estimates show this figure decreased by 241,400 to 1.31 million at 31 March 2021, the highest of any employer size in March 2021
- medium and large sized employers have the lowest take up rates. Provisional figures for 31 March 2021 show that employers with 250 or more employees have 8% of eligible employees on furlough in comparison with the average 14%. Employers with 2 to 4 employees had the highest proportion of eligible employees on furlough at 34%
Table 2c: Employments on furlough by employer size as at 28 February 2021
| Employer size | Employments furloughed | Eligible employmentsǂ | Take-up rateǂ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 194,100 | 725,700 | 27% |
| 2 to 4 | 627,200 | 1,745,600 | 36% |
| 5 to 9 | 545,000 | 1,585,500 | 34% |
| 10 to 19 | 524,400 | 1,773,000 | 30% |
| 20 to 49 | 636,800 | 2,530,500 | 25% |
| 50 to 99 | 316,100 | 1,855,700 | 17% |
| 100 to 249 | 345,300 | 2,444,300 | 14% |
| 250+ | 1,551,200 | 16,607,600 | 9% |
| Unknown | 5,800 | - | - |
| Total | 4,746,000 | 29,268,000 | 16% |
Table 2d: Employments on furlough by employer size as at 31 March 2021 (provisional)
| Employer size | Employments furloughed | Eligible employmentsǂ | Take-up rateǂ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 181,600 | 725,700 | 25% |
| 2 to 4 | 586,500 | 1,745,600 | 34% |
| 5 to 9 | 498,600 | 1,585,500 | 31% |
| 10 to 19 | 470,600 | 1,773,000 | 27% |
| 20 to 49 | 565,400 | 2,530,500 | 22% |
| 50 to 99 | 276,100 | 1,855,700 | 15% |
| 100 to 249 | 301,600 | 2,444,300 | 12% |
| 250+ | 1,309,800 | 16,607,600 | 8% |
| Unknown | 3,800 | - | - |
| Total | 4,193,900 | 29,268,000 | 14% |
ǂ The take up rates are based on employments eligible for the CJRS extension.
Source: HMRC CJRS and PAYE Real Time Information data
Note: the number of employments furloughed in the unknown size category is not directly comparable with the number of employers in the equivalent category in tables 2a and 2c.
Sector at 31 March 2021
This section presents analysis of CJRS claims according to the primary economic sector of employers’ activity. The take-up rate is also reported in this table for both employments and employers. This is presented in tables 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d, below.
Key points from tables 3a and 3b are:
- the accommodation and food services sector had the highest take-up rate at 28 February at 70% of eligible employers putting staff on furlough. Provisional estimates show this decreased to 67% of employers at 31 March 2021
- the arts, entertainment and recreation and other service activities sectors had the second highest take-up rates at 65% at 28 February. This decreased to 62% for arts, entertainment and recreation and 63% for other service activities sectors at 31 March 2021
- at 131,700 the wholesale and retail sector had the largest number of employers putting staff on furlough staff at 28 February. Provisional figures for March 2021 show that this continued to be true with 125,000 employers placing staff on furlough in this sector at 31 March 2021
- at 31 March 2021, the accommodation and food service sector had the highest value of claims at £4.36 billion
Table 3a: CJRS claims by sector as at 28 February 2021
| Sector | Employers furloughing staff | Take-up rateǂ | Value of claims made for periods from 1 November to 28 February (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 5,800 | 17% | 54 |
| Mining and quarrying | 300 | 31% | 8 |
| Manufacturing | 49,500 | 49% | 974 |
| Energy production and supply | 400 | 33% | 13 |
| Water supply, sewerage and waste | 2,600 | 46% | 50 |
| Construction | 91,600 | 38% | 826 |
| Wholesale and retail; repair of motor vehicles | 131,700 | 53% | 2,640 |
| Transportation and storage | 30,900 | 40% | 739 |
| Accommodation and food services | 92,100 | 70% | 3,464 |
| Information and communication | 38,800 | 27% | 395 |
| Finance and insurance | 9,300 | 27% | 106 |
| Real estate | 20,500 | 43% | 213 |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 102,200 | 33% | 900 |
| Administrative and support services | 72,300 | 44% | 1,197 |
| Public administration and defence; social security | 400 | 5% | 19 |
| Education | 19,500 | 49% | 371 |
| Health and social work | 35,600 | 35% | 414 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 26,400 | 65% | 908 |
| Other service activities | 60,600 | 65% | 629 |
| Households | 2,500 | 3% | 10 |
| Unknown and other | 14,600 | - | 161 |
| Total | 807,800 | 41% | 14,091 |
Table 3b: CJRS claims by sector as at 31 March 2021 (provisional)
| Sector | Employers furloughing staff | Take-up rateǂ | Value of claims made for periods from 1 November 2020 to 31 March 2021 (£ million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 5,100 | 15% | 68 |
| Mining and quarrying | 300 | 28% | 10 |
| Manufacturing | 46,900 | 46% | 1,215 |
| Energy production and supply | 400 | 30% | 16 |
| Water supply, sewerage and waste | 2,400 | 42% | 62 |
| Construction | 83,000 | 35% | 1,023 |
| Wholesale and retail; repair of motor vehicles | 125,000 | 50% | 3,327 |
| Transportation and storage | 29,400 | 39% | 933 |
| Accommodation and food services | 88,000 | 67% | 4,355 |
| Information and communication | 36,700 | 25% | 490 |
| Finance and insurance | 8,800 | 26% | 132 |
| Real estate | 19,300 | 40% | 264 |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 96,600 | 31% | 1,114 |
| Administrative and support services | 67,700 | 41% | 1,487 |
| Public administration and defence; social security | 300 | 4% | 24 |
| Education | 17,800 | 45% | 454 |
| Health and social work | 32,700 | 32% | 522 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 25,300 | 62% | 1,150 |
| Other service activities | 58,500 | 63% | 803 |
| Households | 2,000 | 3% | 12 |
| Unknown and other | 13,500 | - | 205 |
| Total | 759,700 | 39% | 17,667 |
ǂ The take up rates are based on employments eligible for the CJRS extension.
Source: HMRC CJRS and PAYE Real Time Information data and Inter-Departmental Business Register
Key points from tables 3c and 3d are:
- at 28 February, the sector with the highest proportion of its workforce eligible for furlough that were on furlough was the accommodation and food services sector at 62% followed by arts, entertainment and recreation at 57%
- take-up rates across all sectors decreased when comparing figures for 28 February with provisional estimates for 31 March 2021
- at 129,800, the accommodation and food services sector had the largest decrease when comparing the number of employments on furlough at 28 February to provisional figures for 31 March 2021
Table 3c: Employments on furlough by sector as at 28 February 2021
| Sector | Employments furloughed | Take-up rateǂ |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 20,500 | 11% |
| Mining and quarrying | 2,000 | 4% |
| Manufacturing | 296,700 | 13% |
| Energy production and supply | 3,000 | 2% |
| Water supply, sewerage and waste | 13,500 | 8% |
| Construction | 231,100 | 18% |
| Wholesale and retail; repair of motor vehicles | 932,500 | 21% |
| Transportation and storage | 197,300 | 15% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,190,600 | 62% |
| Information and communication | 109,400 | 9% |
| Finance and insurance | 31,200 | 3% |
| Real estate | 64,400 | 15% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 269,400 | 12% |
| Administrative and support services | 390,300 | 16% |
| Public administration and defence; social security | 9,800 | 1% |
| Education | 193,900 | 6% |
| Health and social work | 184,900 | 5% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 316,500 | 57% |
| Other service activities | 226,100 | 42% |
| Households | 3,400 | 3% |
| Unknown and other | 59,700 | - |
| Total | 4,746,000 | 16% |
Table 3d: Employments on furlough by sector as at 31 March 2021 (provisional)
| Sector | Employments furloughed | Take-up rateǂ |
|---|---|---|
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 17,200 | 9% |
| Mining and quarrying | 1,600 | 3% |
| Manufacturing | 273,100 | 12% |
| Energy production and supply | 2,400 | 2% |
| Water supply, sewerage and waste | 11,200 | 6% |
| Construction | 196,500 | 15% |
| Wholesale and retail; repair of motor vehicles | 825,600 | 19% |
| Transportation and storage | 176,200 | 13% |
| Accommodation and food services | 1,060,800 | 55% |
| Information and communication | 100,600 | 8% |
| Finance and insurance | 28,800 | 3% |
| Real estate | 57,600 | 13% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 243,200 | 11% |
| Administrative and support services | 332,700 | 13% |
| Public administration and defence; social security | 8,300 | 1% |
| Education | 145,600 | 5% |
| Health and social work | 154,300 | 4% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 298,000 | 54% |
| Other service activities | 211,700 | 39% |
| Households | 2,700 | 2% |
| Unknown and other | 45,900 | - |
| Total | 4,193,900 | 14% |
ǂ The take up rates are based on employments eligible for the CJRS extension.
Source: HMRC CJRS and PAYE Real Time Information data and Inter-Departmental Business Register
Countries and Regions and gender at 31 March 2021
We also provide a geographic breakdown of CJRS claims based on the residential address information that HMRC holds for employees. This does not directly translate to the employee’s usual place of work, or employer’s centre of operations which may be in a different region. For example, an employee who lives in Wales and normally commutes daily to work in Bristol would be included within the count for Wales, rather than for South West England.
Figures 8a and 8b show the number of employments on furlough by each of the English regions, and the totals for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. For some employments it has not been possible to link the employment to the employees’ area of residence and these are included in the unknown category.
The key points from figures 8a and 8b are:
- London and the South East accounted for 1.36 million of the employments on furlough at 28 February. Provisional estimates show this decreased in March when they accounted for 1.22 million of the employments on furlough at 31 March 2021
- the East Midlands and West Midlands had a total of 669,600 employments on furlough at 28 February, decreasing in March with 595,400 at 31 March 2021
- at 28 February, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland combined had 654,400 employments claimed for under CJRS. Provisional estimates for 31 March 2021 show a decrease of 68,300 to 586,100 employments on furlough
Figure 8a: Employments on furlough at 28 February 2021, by Country and Region and gender
| Region | Female | Male | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 355,700 | 366,300 | 722,000 |
| South East | 342,000 | 298,000 | 640,100 |
| North West | 244,000 | 231,600 | 475,600 |
| East | 227,600 | 195,700 | 423,300 |
| West Midlands | 191,900 | 175,400 | 367,300 |
| South West | 210,200 | 177,100 | 387,300 |
| Yorkshire And The Humber | 173,200 | 160,200 | 333,400 |
| East Midlands | 160,700 | 141,500 | 302,300 |
| North East | 80,900 | 71,500 | 152,400 |
| Wales | 94,100 | 83,300 | 177,400 |
| Scotland | 191,300 | 177,100 | 368,400 |
| Northern Ireland | 56,000 | 52,600 | 108,600 |
Figure 8b: Employments on furlough at 31 March 2021 (provisional), by Country and Region and gender
| Region | Female | Male | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | 320,300 | 334,300 | 654,600 |
| South East | 304,500 | 262,400 | 566,800 |
| North West | 221,400 | 210,500 | 431,900 |
| East | 202,100 | 171,600 | 373,700 |
| West Midlands | 171,600 | 155,700 | 327,300 |
| South West | 187,900 | 157,400 | 345,300 |
| Yorkshire And The Humber | 156,500 | 143,800 | 300,300 |
| East Midlands | 143,900 | 124,200 | 268,100 |
| North East | 73,100 | 65,300 | 138,400 |
| Wales | 83,500 | 76,200 | 159,600 |
| Scotland | 170,800 | 156,300 | 327,100 |
| Northern Ireland | 51,500 | 48,000 | 99,400 |
Source: HMRC CJRS data and PAYE Real Time Information
Figures 9a and 9b show the take-up rates of employments on furlough within each country and region using CJRS with a gender breakdown.
The key points to note from figures 9a and 9b are:
- there was broad consistency in furlough rates across the nations and regions of the UK at the end of February with London having the highest take-up rate of 18% against the UK average of 16%. Provisional estimates show that this was also true at the end of March 2021 with London having the highest take-up rate at 16% against a UK average of 14%
- as shown in figures 9a and 9b, the take up rate is similar for males and females within all regions and countries of the UK at 28 February and 31 March 2021
Figure 9a: Employment furlough take-up rate at 28 February 2021, by Country and Region and gender
| Region | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| London | 18% | 19% |
| South East | 17% | 15% |
| North West | 15% | 15% |
| East | 16% | 14% |
| West Midlands | 16% | 14% |
| South West | 17% | 15% |
| Yorkshire And The Humber | 15% | 14% |
| East Midlands | 15% | 13% |
| North East | 15% | 13% |
| Wales | 15% | 14% |
| Scotland | 16% | 15% |
| Northern Ireland | 14% | 14% |
Figure 9b: Employment furlough take-up rate at 31 March 2021 (provisional), by Country and Region and gender
| Region | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| London | 16% | 17% |
| South East | 15% | 13% |
| North West | 14% | 13% |
| East | 14% | 12% |
| West Midlands | 14% | 13% |
| South West | 15% | 13% |
| Yorkshire And The Humber | 14% | 12% |
| East Midlands | 14% | 12% |
| North East | 13% | 12% |
| Wales | 13% | 12% |
| Scotland | 14% | 13% |
| Northern Ireland | 13% | 13% |
ǂ The take up rates are based on employments eligible for the CJRS extension.
Source: HMRC CJRS and PAYE Real Time Information data
The data for figures 8a, 8b, 9a and 9b can be accessed from the accompanying spreadsheet.
Local authority and Parliamentary constituency and gender at 31 March 2021
Accompanying this release is a separate file providing counts of the number of employments on furlough by local authority and UK Parliamentary constituency based on each employee’s residential address.
Tables 12 and 13 in the accompanying spreadsheet additionally provide a gender breakdown that is not shown in the maps in this section.
In figures 10a and 10b we present maps representing the take-up rates for employments on furlough for local authorities at 28 February and 31 March 2021 (provisional figures). Darker shades indicate a higher take-up rate.
The key points to note for local authorities at 31 March 2021 (provisional figures) are:
- the ten local authorities with the highest take up rates are Eden and South Lakeland in Cumbria, Scarborough, Isle of Wight, Crawley and the London authorities of Brent, Ealing Haringey, Hounslow and Newham
- South Lakeland had the highest take-up rate at 24%. This was followed by Eden and Newham at 21%
- the Shetland Islands and Orkney Islands had the lowest take-up rates at 8%
- at 62,000, Birmingham had the highest number of employments on furlough, a take-up rate of 15%
- in Scotland, Highland and Perth and Kinross had the highest take up rates at 17%
- for Northern Ireland, Newry, Mourne and Down and Causeway Coast and Glens had the highest take-up rates at 15%
- in Wales, Conwy had the highest take-up rate at 18%
Figure 10a: Employments on furlough as a proportion of eligible employments at 28 February 2021, by Local Authority
Figure 10b: Employments on furlough as a proportion of eligible employments at 31 March 2021 (provisional), by Local Authority
ǂ These maps are based on the number of employments eligible for the CJRS extension. (See methodology section for more information.)
Source: HMRC CJRS and PAYE Real Time Information data
In figures 11a and 11b we present maps representing take-up rates for employments on furlough for UK Parliamentary constituencies at 28 February and 31 March 2021 (provisional figures). Darker shades indicate a higher take-up rate.
The key points to note here for UK Parliamentary constituencies at 31 March 2021 (provisional figures) are:
- Westmorland and Lonsdale had the highest take-up rate at 26%
- the take-up rate was lowest in Orkney and Shetland constituency at 8%
- West Ham constituency had the highest number of employments on furlough with 18,100
- in Northern Ireland, East Londonderry, Belfast North and South Down had the highest take-up rates of 15%
- in Scotland, the Ross, Skye and Lochaber and Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituencies had the highest take-up rate of 18%
- in Wales the Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency had the highest take-rate at 22%
Figure 11a: Employments on furlough as a proportion of eligible employments at 28 February 2021, by Parliamentary constituency
Figure 11b: Employments on furlough as a proportion of eligible employments at 31 March 2021 (provisional), by Parliamentary constituency
ǂ These maps are based on the number of employments eligible for the CJRS extension. (See methodology section for more information.)
Source: HMRC CJRS and PAYE Real Time Information data
Age and gender at 31 March 2021
This section of the release describes the number of employments on furlough at 28 February 2021 by employees’ age and gender and provisional estimates at 31 March 2021. This breakdown is based on the most up-to-date demographic information that HMRC holds on the individuals for whom claims have been made. The age of employees is calculated as at 1 November 2020.
The key points to note from figures 12a and 12b are:
- at 28 February the 18 to 24 age band had the highest number of claimants for both females and males, 406,400 and 327,300 respectively. Provisional estimates show that this was still true at 31 March 2021 with 366,700 females on furlough and 292,300 males
- figures for 28 February and provisional estimates for 31 March 2021 show that the under 18 age group had the lowest number of employments on furlough across both months, 112,400 employments at 28 February and 102,900 employments on furlough at 31 March 2021
Figure 12a: Employments on furlough at 28 February 2021, by age and gender of employee
| Age band | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 69,700 | 42,800 |
| 18 to 24 | 406,400 | 327,300 |
| 25 to 29 | 262,000 | 257,400 |
| 30 to 34 | 259,300 | 254,900 |
| 35 to 39 | 246,400 | 237,400 |
| 40 to 44 | 224,700 | 216,000 |
| 45 to 49 | 224,000 | 205,200 |
| 50 to 54 | 235,200 | 206,200 |
| 55 to 59 | 208,000 | 187,200 |
| 60 to 64 | 144,800 | 141,000 |
| 65 and over | 88,600 | 97,700 |
Figure 12b: Employments on furlough at 31 March 2021 (provisional), by age and gender of employee
| Age band | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 64,200 | 38,700 |
| 18 to 24 | 366,700 | 292,300 |
| 25 to 29 | 233,800 | 228,700 |
| 30 to 34 | 231,500 | 226,000 |
| 35 to 39 | 219,800 | 211,100 |
| 40 to 44 | 199,900 | 193,100 |
| 45 to 49 | 199,400 | 184,200 |
| 50 to 54 | 210,300 | 185,500 |
| 55 to 59 | 186,800 | 168,600 |
| 60 to 64 | 130,800 | 127,400 |
| 65 and over | 81,300 | 89,100 |
Source: HMRC CJRS data and PAYE Real Time Information
The key points to note from figures 13a and 13b are:
- the under 18 age band had the highest take up rate for both female and males at 28 February, 41% and 30% respectively. Provisional estimates for 31 March 2021 show that the under 18 age band continued to have the highest take-up rates at 38% for females and 28% for males
- provisional estimates for 31 March 2021 show that take-up rates decreased across all age bands from 28 February
Figure 13a: Employment furlough take-up rate at 28 February 2021, by age and gender of the employee
| Age band | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 41% | 30% |
| 18 to 24 | 24% | 20% |
| 25 to 29 | 15% | 15% |
| 30 to 34 | 15% | 14% |
| 35 to 39 | 15% | 14% |
| 40 to 44 | 14% | 14% |
| 45 to 49 | 14% | 13% |
| 50 to 54 | 14% | 13% |
| 55 to 59 | 14% | 13% |
| 60 to 64 | 16% | 15% |
| 65 and over | 18% | 18% |
Figure 13b: Employment furlough take-up rate at 31 March 2021 (provisional), by age and gender of the employee
| Age band | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 38% | 28% |
| 18 to 24 | 22% | 18% |
| 25 to 29 | 14% | 14% |
| 30 to 34 | 13% | 13% |
| 35 to 39 | 13% | 12% |
| 40 to 44 | 13% | 12% |
| 45 to 49 | 12% | 12% |
| 50 to 54 | 12% | 12% |
| 55 to 59 | 13% | 12% |
| 60 to 64 | 14% | 14% |
| 65 and over | 17% | 16% |
ǂ The take up rates are based on employments eligible for the CJRS extension.
Source: HMRC CJRS and PAYE Real Time Information data
Region and sector at 31 March 2021
Tables 17 and 18 in the accompanying spreadsheet show the number of employments on furlough by local authority and region by sector at 28 February and provisional estimates at 31 March 2021
The key points to note are:
- at 28 February, across all countries and regions except for Northern Ireland and West Midlands, the accommodation and food services sector had the highest number of employments on furlough, followed by the wholesale and retail sector
- in Northern Ireland and the West Midlands, the wholesale and retail sector had the highest number of employments on furlough at 28 February, followed by accommodation and food services
- provisional estimates show that this remained true on 31 March 2021 except for the West Midlands, where the accommodation and food services sector now had the most employments on furlough
- in London, 25% of the employments on furlough were in the accommodation and food services sector on 28 February. Provisional estimates show this was similar in March at 26% at 31 March 2021
- Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland combined had 160,950 employments on furlough in the accommodation and food services sector at 28 February. Provisional estimates show this decreased to 151,370 at 31 March 2021
Background
The government announced the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) on 20 March 2020. It was introduced to support employers through the COVID-19 period, this has commonly been referred to as the furlough scheme. It works by providing grants to employers of up to a maximum 80% of salary to a maximum value of £2,500 per employee (until the end of August).
Up to the end of July, the scheme also met some of the cost of employer pension contributions and employer National Insurance Contributions.
The scheme is based around HMRC’s Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system. For an employer to qualify for the scheme they need to have created a PAYE scheme by 19 March 2020. In these statistics, an employer is defined as a PAYE scheme.
The rules for an employment to qualify to be covered by the scheme are set out in guidance, and two of the key rules are that the furloughed employee must have been employed on 19 March 2020 and the employer must have submitted a Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC for the employee by this date.
Up to date information about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme can be found online. The pages on applying for support, for example, include further details of the eligibility criteria. Older versions of the guidance can be found in the National Archive by following the links from the guidance pages.
Changes to the scheme from 1 July 2020
The scheme closed to new entrants from 30 June 2020. After this date, employers have only been able to furlough employees they furloughed for a full three-week period prior to 30 June 2020.
As a consequence of the closure of the scheme to additional employees and the minimum three-week furlough period that applied until the end of June, the final date that an employer could have furloughed an employee for the first time was 10 June 2020.
Employers had until 31 July 2020 to make any claims in respect of the period to 30 June 2020. A small number of claims have been made since this date. These claims relate to exceptions as set out in the CJRS guidance (for example, for employees being furloughed who have been absent from work and who had been paid Statutory Maternity Pay).
From 1 July 2020, employers have had the flexibility to bring furloughed employees back to work part time. Additionally, employers have the flexibility to decide the hours and shift patterns of their employees – with the government continuing to pay 80% of salaries for the hours they do not work.
From 1 September 2020, the scheme supported 70% of salaries for hours not worked, reducing to 60% from 1 October 2020.
When claiming the CJRS grant for furloughed hours, employers need to report and claim for a minimum period of a week. Employers had until 30 November 2020 to submit claims for support from the CJRS.
Changes to the scheme from 1 November 2020
The CJRS scheme was extended from 1 November 2020. The rules for an employment to qualify to be covered by the extended scheme are set out in guidance.
The two key rules are that the furloughed employee must have been employed on 30 October 2020, and the employer must have submitted a Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC for the employee between 20 March 2020 and 30 October 2020, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee. This may differ where they have made employees redundant, or they stopped working for the employer on or after 23 September 2020 and have subsequently been re-employed.
For claim periods from 1 November to 30 April 2021, employers with a PAYE scheme can claim 80% of an employee’s usual hours worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. The £2,500 cap is proportional to the hours not worked.
Changes to the scheme from 1 May 2021
It was announced on 3 March 2021 that the CJRS was to be extended further, beyond 30 April 2021 to 30 September 2021. To be eligible for furlough from the 1 May 2021 onwards, the employee must have been employed on 2 March 2021 and the employer must have submitted a Real Time Information (RTI) submission to HMRC for the employee between 20 March 2020 and 2 March 2021, notifying a payment of earnings for that employee.
For claim periods from 1 May to 30 June 2021, employers with a PAYE scheme will be able to claim 80% of an employee’s usual hours worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month. The £2,500 cap is proportional to the hours not worked.
From 1 July 2021, the scheme supports 70% of salaries for hours not worked, reducing to 60% from 1 August 2021.
Further information about the job retention scheme can be found on the Internet here:.
Glossary
An employer is defined within this release as a Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Scheme. In some circumstances this does not map directly to what is commonly understood to be an employer. For example, some organisations operate multiple payrolls, and in other situations, a group of companies may pool their payrolls together under one PAYE scheme. However, in our view PAYE schemes provides a reasonable proxy for employers for the purposes of this release.
An employment is defined within this release as anyone who meets the scheme criteria set out within the published guidance. We have applied this definition in order to keep the presentation simple and the difficulty in separating out Office Holders (such as directors) from what are generally considered employees. Further information on the eligibility criteria is set out in the background section section above.
Measuring the data
Data source and collection
The data for this release comes from HM Revenue and Customs’ CJRS claims. It covers the whole population rather than a sample of people or companies, and it will allow for more detailed estimates of the population.
These statistics are classed as Experimental Statistics as they are still in development.
Additional data from HMRC’s Real Time Information system has been matched with CJRS data in order to produce the statistics released here.
Coverage
This publication covers all CJRS claims made by employers from the start of the scheme up to 14 April 2021 for support for the wages of staff on furlough up to 31 March 2021. The data for March 2021 is incomplete as claims relating to March 2021 may still be filed; thus, the figures for March 2021 should therefore be considered provisional results and will be revised in future releases.
Methodology (except table 1)
This section provides notes on the methodology and implications for interpreting the figures.
The statistics in this release count employments. Therefore (for example), an employee with jobs at two employers will be counted twice if both jobs are furloughed.
The criteria for eligibility for the CJRS were amended for the CJRS extension.
For furlough from November 2020 onwards, the numbers of jobs presented as ‘eligible employments’ and used to calculate take-up figures reflect the criteria for eligibility for the extension to the CJRS scheme. They are based on a list of employees employed on 30 October 2020 and included in PAYE Real Time Information submissions for 20 March 2020 to 30 October 2020. Only employments in RTI submissions received by HMRC by 30 October are counted.
Following the criteria for qualifying for the scheme, this is supplemented by a list of people who were employed on 23 September 2020 but who left their job before 30 October and who were later re-employed by the same employer.
In this release employers are described as eligible to claim the CJRS if they employed staff for which the criteria to be eligible for furlough were met. Employers are grouped into size bands in some tables according to the number of employees they had who were eligible to be put on furlough under the extension to CJRS.
In some circumstances HMRC holds incomplete information about employments, for example where a leaving date had not been submitted by employer. In this situation, an estimate of the probability that an individual was employed on the qualifying dates has been used.
The figures in this release contain a downward revision to the number of employments eligible for CJRS extension. This is due to a refinement in the methodology and results in a small increase in our estimates of the employer and employment take up rates.
In the CJRS statistics release including claims to 14 June, we will publish final figures for the number of people on furlough each month of CJRS extension (to end-April). This will include take-up rates using the refined methodology for the eligible population. We will also publish revised figures for the eligible population for the original scheme with a future release of these statistics.
The assessment of whether a person was employed on the qualifying dates is based on the methodology used for the joint HMRC/ONS statistics release, Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information.
Employers making claims for 100 or more employees at a time are required to submit the details of the employees on furlough in a spreadsheet-type file. While these claims have been processed from a customer service perspective, the processing of this information for these statistics has been complex and the processing of data on some employments has not been completed. This is a factor behind the unknown category in the tables.
The completeness of this data has gradually improved since the first release, and we expect some further (smaller) improvements.
The geographic and flexible furlough breakdowns of employments include all employees that employers have furloughed where it has been possible to link claim data on furloughed employments to classifying information (such as the employee’s gender and address).
The linking has been performed using employees’ National Insurance numbers to data held within HMRC’s Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) system. When the employer-submitted National Insurance numbers are not of sufficient quality to be matched with other HMRC data, the employments have been categorised as ‘unknown’.
The geographic breakdowns in the tables and maps use a postcode lookup file from Office for National Statistics (ONS) data to link UK postcodes to geographic areas.
Industrial sector information is based on the Interdepartmental Business Register (IDBR) produced by the ONS. Where PAYE schemes are absent from the IDBR, we have used sector information from Companies House, linking on employer name where possible. This provides Standard Industrial Classification codes (UK SIC 2007) for employers that have made a claim. Where we have been unable to determine SIC codes, we have reported the sector as ‘unknown’.
The time series in this bulletin show figures for the number of employments on furlough each day, using all claims submitted to HMRC by 14 April 2021.
In producing the time series statistics some challenges had to be tackled. These included dealing with data on amendments to claims and claims for overlapping periods. In addition, claims for 100 or more furloughed staff may include staff furloughed for varying periods. These factors combined with some incomplete data (as mentioned above) make counting the number of employees furloughed over time complex.
The method employed is designed to generally prevent overcounting employments and may in certain circumstances very slightly undercount. Consequently, for the period to the end of June, the time series presented in this bulletin may typically slightly undercount the number of employments on furlough.
The figures for the number and value of claims do not take account of voluntary repayments nor remove claims not paid for compliance reasons. Claims cancelled by employers within 72 hours of making the claim are excluded.
Methodology (cumulative figures - table 1)
The methodology used for the figure for the cumulative number of jobs ever on furlough since the start of the scheme (table 1 above and tables 1, 1a, 1b in the spreadsheet accompanying this release) has been improved. For figures up to 13 December 2020, the method used was based on the figures for the total number of jobs on furlough on each claim. This choice had to be made because at the time the job-level information available for statistical purposes was incomplete for larger claims.
Over time – and particularly with the introduction of the CJRS extension – the previous method had started to undercount the total number of jobs put on furlough.
The original method took the total number of jobs furloughed from all the claims made by each PAYE scheme. It then found the maximum number of jobs furloughed for each employer across all their claims. Finally, it summed these values for all PAYE schemes to arrive at a total number of employees furloughed.
The new approach uses job-level data. For this, we calculate the number of unique National Insurance numbers in the claims made by each employer, and then sum these. This information is supplemented by the employee’s name and payroll number in a small number of cases.
The cumulative number of employers making CJRS claims is calculated as the number of distinct PAYE schemes that have submitted a claim since the start of the scheme. The cumulative value of claims made is calculated as the sum of the amount claimed for each submitted claim.
Since the introduction of flexible furlough employers have been able to cancel claims made on the CJRS claims portal within 72 hours of making a claim. From the figures dated 15 February 2021 onwards, claims cancelled in this way have been excluded.
The figures for the number and value of claims do not take account of voluntary repayments nor remove claims not paid for compliance reasons. Claims cancelled by employers within 72 hours of making the claim are excluded.
HMRC separately publishes figures for the value of claims paid to employers, in its monthly publication on tax receipts. Those figures are on a cash basis and reflect the time that the payments were made rather than the date that claims were received, so are slightly different to the figures included in this release.
Rounding of figures in the tables accompanying this release
Rounding has been applied to the figures in the tables accompanying this release, with counts rounded to the nearest 10 for Tables 17 and 18 Local Authority by sector, and to the nearest 100 for all other tables, amounts are rounded to the nearest million.
User questions and feedback
We welcome questions and feedback. Our email address is: cjrs.statistics.enquiries@hmrc.gov.uk
Strengths and limitations
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) grants pre-release access to Official Statistics publications, and in accordance with the HMRC policy, pre-release access has been granted to a number of people to enable the preparation of a ministerial briefing. Further details, including a list of those granted access, can be found on HMRC’s website.
Experimental Statistics status
The release is classed as Experimental Statistics as the methodologies used to produce the statistics are still in their development phase. This does not mean that the statistics are of low quality, but it does signify that the statistics are new and still being developed. As the methodologies are refined and improved, there may be revisions to these statistics.
Rather than waiting until the development work has been completed, the statistics are being published now to involve potential users in developing the statistics. We hope that this encourages users to provide us with their thoughts and suggestions of how useful the statistics are and what can be done to improve them. Comments can be sent by email to CJRS.Statistics.Enquiries@hmrc.gov.uk.
More information about what it means for Official Statistics to be classified as Experimental Statistics is available from the Office for Statistics Regulation.
Office for Statistics regulation review
These statistics have been produced quickly in response to developing world events. The Office for Statistics Regulation, on behalf of the UK Statistics Authority, has reviewed them against several key aspects of the Code of Practice for Statistics and regards them as consistent with the Code’s pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value.
Strengths of the data
The data used in this release includes all claims made by employers up until 14 April 2021 for support for the wages of staff on furlough up to 31 March 2021, rather than a sample. We have linked CJRS data to Pay As You Earn Real Time Information data (PAYE RTI) to provide the additional information presented in this release.
Revisions
In future iterations of this statistics release there may be some further revisions reflecting improvements to the data processing and methodology.
The figures in this release incorporate data on claims received by HMRC up to 14 April 2021 and cover employments on furlough up to 31 March 2021. The data for March 2021 is incomplete as late claims for the CJRS extension may still be filed with reasonable excuse and HMRC agreement. Amendments to March 2021 claims may be made until 28 April 2021.
Based on figures for February it is expected that these factors will result in an increase in the level of jobs on furlough reported for March 2021 of about 2%. Thus, the figures for March 2021 should therefore be considered provisional results and are likely to be revised slightly upwards in a future release.
Related links
Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK: April 2021 - Employee and earnings statistics from PAYE Real Time Information.
Labour market in the regions of the UK: April 2021 - Regional breakdowns of changes in UK employment, unemployment and economic activity.
Employment in the UK: April 2021 - Estimates of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity for the UK.
Average weekly earnings in Great Britain: April 2021 - Estimates of growth in earnings for employees before tax and other deductions from pay.
HMRC coronavirus (COVID-19) statistics - Collection of HMRC data regarding COVID-19 response initiatives and policy.