Since the start of the scheme in March 2020 a total of 11.7m jobs have been supported by the CJRS at various times and the scheme was used by 1.3m employers. During the first three months of operation, 61% of these employers furloughed staff as lockdown rules were in force.

The government has confirmed that when the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme closed on 30 September, furlough was being claimed by 410,000 employers which had a total of 1.16m workers off work.

The closing figures show that the government had spent £70bn on the furlough scheme, which acted as an essential buffer to avert widespread unemployment during the pandemic.

Now that the scheme has been closed for nearly three months, and all final claims have been submitted, it is worth noting that HMRC will be working hard to analyse claims to identify mistakes, errors and fraudulent claims.