Having a fairer and more flexible process to access Furlough cash will help businesses like HearFocus will help them to survive and retain jobs through this crisis.

Our situation being we missed the cut off date to submit our whole workforces PAYE codes which has precluded us from the Job Retention Scheme.  To be clear we initially saved the business from liquidation in late January 2020 thus saving 65 jobs.  I’m positive there are many more companies and individuals in this situation.  

HearFocus can demonstrate we have continued to pay staff and have made no redundancies.  HMRC have agreed that we are a victim of circumstance however they must follow Government Guidelines.

We ask that the Government give the HMRC the ability to assess companies Furlough applications retrospectively. Where companies can demonstrate staff salaries are being paid in line with Furlough guidelines and/or a genuine reason for not meeting the benchmark for Furlough, some latitude should be given to HMRC to examine the evidence and make an informed decision.