Responding to confirmation of the Chancellor’s Spending Review on November 25, and the end of the furlough scheme this weekend, Mayor of the Sheffield City Region, Dan Jarvis, said:
“As furlough comes to an end, workers and businesses will lose a lifeline which has slowed a rising tide of unemployment. In South Yorkshire, Tier 3 restrictions are squeezing our economy even tighter. Without sustained additional support, more jobs and employers will be cut adrift.
“With the country’s finances facing unprecedented pressures, it is understandable that Government has decided to undertake a one, rather than a three-year Comprehensive Spending Review.
“However, the Chancellor cannot afford to delay levelling up our region. To prevent businesses going under and jobs disappearing overnight, he should listen to his own backbenchers, who are calling on him to do more for regions under COVID restrictions and bring forward a recovery plan for the North.
“This means backing our ambitious South Yorkshire Works programme, part of our £1.7bn Renewal Action Plan, which will put people back to work, help them retrain and revitalise our town and city centres. Now is the time for Government to deliver on its promises to level up, not just for the benefit of South Yorkshire, but the whole country.”
