Businesses in Cumbria have welcomed changes to the Job Support Scheme.

According to Jo Lappin, chairperson of the Business and Economic Response and Recovery Group in the Local Resilience Forum, improvements to the scheme will make it more effective in supporting businesses.

The new version of the Job Support Scheme is set to launch on Sunday and was announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak last month.

The launch was timed to coincide with the end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme known as furlough, which has subsidised the wages of almost 10 million workers since March.

In Cumbria, 78,000 jobs have been furloughed at some point since March.

The new scheme will mean employees can work fewer hours to qualify. And the Government will make a bigger cash contribution towards wages so that employers don’t have to pay so much.

The minimum hours employees need to work to qualify for the support scheme will now be one-fifth, down from a third when the scheme was first announced, meaning that someone can work just one day a week to qualify.

Mrs Lappin, chief executive of the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Many Cumbrian businesses will be pleased to see that the JSS offers further Government support as the Job Retention Scheme draws to a close. Government has clearly listened to businesses about the gaps in the JSS following its announcement and responded with improvements that make it work far better for businesses and their employees.

She said: “It’s obviously still a very challenging and unpredictable environment for our businesses and we would urge Government to consider all options to help the economy through the winter months and beyond.

“Whilst the changes announced are to be welcomed, there are still a number of concerns being expressed by our businesses in relation to, for example, more help required for the newly self-employed and lower-paid employees.”