No Plan B for Scottish furlough

Nicola Sturgeon has admitted the Scottish Government do not have a Plan B to save jobs once the furlough scheme is ended by the UK government.

Speaking at her daily coronavirus briefing, the First Minsiter was asked, given the lack of any sign of movement on the issue by the UK government, whether she or the Scottish Government had a back up plan.

Ms Sturgeon said the only way for the Scottish Government to avoid a “potential tsunami of redundancies” would be to receive greater borrowing powers from the UK government, assuming the furlough scheme ends next month.

However, that suggestion was dismissed yesterday by the chair of the economic recovery advisory group Benny Higgins who said it would not be feasible to expect such a change in the fiscal framework.

Ms Sturgeon said: “This is the heart of it. I don’t have an alternative to furlough.

“I don’t have the wherewithal to put in place an alternative to furlough because I don’t have access to the borrowing powers that is currently funding the furlough scheme.

“The UK government is borrowing money to fund it, rightly so in my view, and if they decide to cut it off I don’t then have the ability to borrow that money and continue it for Scotland.

“The Scottish Government’s budget is finite so if I was to within the existing Scottish Government budget find an alternative to the UK’S furlough scheme, I would have to take that money from the health service, the education system, and that’s the fundamental point and why I am so anxious about this.”

The First Minister added that she does not believe the UK government will “simply stand back” and watch jobs being lost.