Almost a quarter of employees across Caerphilly County Borough have been placed on furlough leave, according to UK Government statistics.

Since the scheme launched on April 20, until the end of last month, businesses furloughed 17,900 jobs in the county borough.

Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, employers can place staff on leave and claim a grant to cover 80% of their salary.

Around 4,800 people have also accessed the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS). This sees a single grant paid out to workers covering three months’ of wages based on 80% of average profit.

In total, both schemes have seen £12,900,000 paid out to workers in Caerphilly County Borough.

Last month the UK Chancellor announced an extension to the SEISS. Those eligible to claim the SEISS grant will be able to claim a second and final grant in August of up to £6,750.

Simon Hart, Secretary of State for Wales for the UK Government, said: “So far, 316,500 Welsh jobs have been supported by the job retention scheme while £273m has been provided to support 102,000 self-employed people.

“People and businesses in Wales have also benefited from UK-wide schemes such as VAT deferral, company loans and Universal Credit, while the Welsh Government has been allocated an additional £2.2 billion in direct coronavirus funding.”

For the latest information on UK Government support schemes visit www.gov.uk/coronavirus/business-support

Welsh Government’s Economic Resilience Fund

Businesses in Wales can now find out if they are eligible to apply for financial support from the next phase of the Welsh Government’s Economic Resilience Fund

The fund was set up to help firms, charities and social enterprises that were not eligible for other forms of help during the pandemic..

The online eligibility checker has reopened and businesses will be able to make applications for support from this phase of the fund by the end of the month.