Rishi Sunak said serviceman and servicewomen who come back to their day job after completing a period of active duty will be able to be furloughed by their employer under the recently extended Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).

He also announced that self-employed army, navy and airforce reservists who are currently ineligible for the Self Employment Income Support Scheme as a result of their service will be able to access a grant.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak MP said:

Reservists embody the best of our nation – in our hours of need, they rise up to the challenge and leave their everyday lives behind to serve our people.

It is only right that we do everything we can to support them when they return to civilian life during these challenging times.

To enable the introduction of more flexible, part-time furloughing, and support those already furloughed back to work, CJRS claims from July onwards will be restricted to employers currently using the scheme and previously furloughed employees.

However, as some reservists will have been in active service during the outbreak and will be returning to work after this cut-off point, they have been exempted from the restriction – providing they work for an employer who has previously furloughed employees.

The CJRS has so far helped 1 million employers across the UK furlough almost 9 million jobs, and the SEISS has seen 2.6 million claims submitted with a total value of £7.5 billion.

More details of the changes will be included in updated guidance, published next week.

Reservists who currently cannot access the SEISS as a direct result of their service in 2018-19 will be able to make a claim for both the first and second SEISS grants, and further information on how to do this will be published shortly.

Further information

Caroline was Europe Director at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London from October 2016 until July 2019 and served as Her Majesty’s Consul General to Hong Kong and Macao from 2012 to 2016.

HM The Queen appointed the new Ambassador after the Prime Minister approved the successful candidate on the recommendation of the Foreign Secretary. The request for agrément has been approved by the Chinese Government.

Caroline Wilson is expected to take up her appointment in September. She succeeds Barbara Woodward who has completed her tour.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:

This is an important juncture in the UK’s relationship with China, with both opportunities and challenges. Caroline is an outstanding diplomat, who will help us navigate the path ahead.

Caroline Wilson said:

It is an incredible opportunity to be asked to represent the UK in China at this critical time. As major economies and leading members of the global community, the UK and China must continue to work together to develop our partnership.

I look forward to returning to China to take the relationship forward.

Biography

Caroline joined the Foreign Office in 1995 after qualifying as a Barrister-at-law.

She completed Mandarin language training at Beijing Normal University before taking up her first role overseas at the British Embassy in Beijing from 1997-2000.

Caroline was posted to the UK Representation to the European Union in Brussels in 2001 and served as Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary from 2004-2006.

Caroline was then seconded to the Cabinet Office European Secretariat as Deputy Director. From 2008-12 she served at the British Embassy in Moscow as Minister Counsellor.

Caroline then went on to become Her Majesty’s Consul General to Hong Kong and Macao from 2012 to 2016.

Returning to London, Caroline was appointed Europe Director at the FCO, a role she held from 2016 to 2019.

Caroline is fluent in Mandarin. Her Chinese name is 吴若兰.

Further information

The Charity Commission has agreed the terms of an independent review of the governance, management and finances of the Professional Footballers’ Association Charity.

A statutory inquiry, launched by the Charity Commission in December 2019 into the charity’s management and governance, remains underway.

The trustees proposed appointing an independent reviewer, and the Commission has worked with them to expand the scope of the issues to be considered. The reviewer will work closely with the Commission’s statutory inquiry and will inform the regulator of any information that may be relevant to the ongoing inquiry.

The independent review will be carried out by a specialist charity lawyer and will make recommendations to the trustees on relevant matters, including future arrangements for the charity.

The Commission will publish a report setting out its own findings on conclusion of the inquiry. Reports of previous inquiries are available on GOV.UK.

The scope of the Commission’s inquiry into the PFA charity can be viewed on the Commission’s website.

The Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) was involved in the analysis, planning and discussions of the new life assurance scheme for frontline NHS staff and social care workers in England.

The Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock made the announcement at the daily press briefing at the end of April. The scheme will provide a £60,000 payment to families of eligible workers who die from coronavirus in the course of their essential frontline work. GAD played a role in supporting the introduction of this scheme.

Cross-government working

We worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care to support discussions across government to consider possible approaches and costings.

Bereaved family members will receive a £60,000 lump sum worth roughly twice the average pensionable pay for NHS staff, with the cost met by the government. This will cover full, part-time or locum NHS and public health workers, including GPs, dentists, retired staff and second and final year students taking up paid frontline roles. The scheme is now live on the website of the NHS Business Services Authority.

GAD’s calculations

GAD actuary Garry Swann was involved with the discussions and said: “We provided some initial advice to assist with the formulation of the policy.

“We then carried out more detailed analysis to illustrate various potential costs across a range of health workers, including those not currently in the workforce, for example returning from recent retirement.”

As part of these calculations, GAD also carried out calculations to demonstrate the potential sensitivity of these costs as well as the impact of varying assumptions, such as the size of the workforce.