Chesterfield MP welcomes expansion of job protection scheme

However, hundreds of thousands of people across the UK who had started a new job after February 28 were told they would not qualify for the scheme.

Following pressure from Labour MPs, the Government have extended the cut-off date for starting with a new employer to March 19, providing wage protections for hundreds of Derbyshire residents, many of whom were left without any income at all.

Toby Perkins, MP for Chesterfield, said: “I welcomed the Government’s scheme when it was introduced but I recognised immediately that people who had recently moved jobs, who may have been working and contributing for many years, were going to be left out in the cold.

“I raised this with the Chancellor and urged him to make the amendments to the scheme, amendments that, thankfully, he has now confirmed.

“I was being contacted by people worried about losing their homes, not been able to keep up with their bills and just feeling desperate. I am sorry for the worry this has caused families in my constituency, but I am so pleased that they will now be protected through this crisis.”

But he warned further amendments would be required to stop other individuals and businesses “falling through the cracks in the government’s schemes”.