Following on from the earlier update on the furlough scheme, as well as the original guidance issued in May 2020, please note that we do not expect you to be eligible for furlough if your are forecasting an in year surplus. The government guidance on Coronavirus (COVID-19): financial support for education, early years and children’s social care makes the following statement in particular:
“Schools should first seek to make the necessary savings from their existing budget or consider options to redeploy these staff before furloughing them. Only after all other potential options have been fully considered should schools furlough those members of staff and seek support through the CJRS”.
In addition, one of the conditions for furloughing employees is that the employee would otherwise be made redundant or laid off. We would not expect this to be the case if you have an in year surplus given that your funding is likely to return in the new financial year as we come out of the pandemic.