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Doubts arise over furloughed Butlin’s workers

Doubts have emerged over the future of 1,000 furloughed Butlin’s workers when the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ends.

A document sent to staff and reportedly seen by the BBC suggests employees either take paid holiday if they have any left or unpaid leave if not.

Butlin’s is currently operating at half capacity and is heading into the winter months when income falls significantly.

It said no decision had been made about workers on the government scheme.

The company said: “Since we reopened Butlin’s we’ve worked hard to bring back as many of our team as possible whilst ensuring we’re safe and secure.

“There has been no decision made regarding our team who are still furloughed.”

Butlin’s has 6,000 employees in total as part of a total workforce of 15,000 as part of the privately-owned Bourne Leisure Group which also operates Haven and Warner Leisure Hotels.

Bourne Leisure warned that 10,000 jobs would be at risk without government help before the government’s furlough scheme was announced.

Bourne Leisure has since secured hundreds of millions of pounds in government support in the form of loans, furlough payments and deferred VAT and business rates since the pandemic struck.

Millions of employees are having a reduced proportion of their wages paid by the government as the CJRS winds down before its planned withdrawal on October 31.

Businesses will have to consult with staff on how many of them they intend to make redundant as the date approaches.

The government has so far ruled out any extension but chancellor Rishi Sunak has said he is “open to creative ideas”.

Additional support may yet be forthcoming for regions hit by additional and increasingly widespread lockdown measures.

Sunak is expected to this week extend four loan schemes in an effort to avert widespread business failures and more job losses, according to the Financial Times.

The additional support measures are likely as the government considers further restrictions designed to counter a resurgence of Covid-19.

England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty will give a public briefing at 11am today on the latest virus data, alongside a warning of “a very challenging winter period”.

More areas in north-west England, West Yorkshire and the Midlands, will face further local restrictions from Tuesday, taking the number of people in the UK affected by tougher local restrictions to around 13.5 million.

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