BUSINESSES which are closed by law after October will not be eligible for the furlough scheme.
A Downing Street spokesman confirmed that the job-saving scheme is still set to be wound up by the end of October, despite mounting pressure to introduce a sector-specific plan.
Labour and the SNP have both called for the Chancellor to extend the scheme to some areas, in particular those subject to local lockdowns and industries which have been worst hit by the pandemic.
This includes manufacturing, retail and aviation.
Today the Night Time Industries Association said a return for clubs and venues is possible if numbers inside are limited, social distancing takes place and clubbers wear face masks.
Their report stated: "Use of face coverings on the dancefloor can be implemented and enforced through existing security staff and protocols.”
It also warned 60% of businesses in the sector could be closed by next month without more support. as the sector reaches a "critical point".
Michael Kill, chief executive of the association, said: "We have now reached a critical point. In the absence of a clear reopening strategy from government, or the promise of financial support, huge numbers of businesses within our industry are facing financial collapse and thousands of job losses.
"The report clearly shows that there is a case for the safe reopening of night-time leisure venues, including nightclubs, late night bars, live music venues and event spaces.
"Whilst many of these are large capacity venues, it is important to note that they already have many of the safety protocols in place to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.
"We implore the government to give us the opportunity to reopen in a safe, risk-assessed way."
Last week Donald Macleod, who owns Glasgow's Garage and Cathouse nightclubs, spoke of his fears of job losses and industry demise if more support was not given by the Scottish Government to help the night time economy.
He said the furlough scheme alone was not enough to sustain the sector, and urged officials to step in.
However Rishi Sunak has insisted it is unfair to continue the furlough scheme and give workers false hope about employment opportunities once it comes to an end.
When asked if firms which are required to close by law would be able to use the furlough scheme after October 31st, a Downing street spokesman said: ""The chancellor has been clear when the furlough scheme comes to an end, but as I say we have provided support for businesses which they are able to use, and obviously we will continue to keep that under review.
"The treasury and the chancellor have set out support packages which ensure llots of these sorts of high risk areas will have received. We will keep it under continuous review but the chancellor has set out the support packages available to businesses."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel