hello. this is bbc news. the headlines at 430. changes are expected to the fellow scheme. the government is set to asking players to play around a fifth of staff's wages from the summer. fifth of staff's wages from the summer. one of the government's scientific adviser says he does not agree with easing lockdown while the number of new cases remains relatively high. in scotland to households can now meet outdoors. the best of the uk will ease measures on monday. if too many of us measures on monday. if too many of us change our behaviour a bit more than these changes are designed to allow we could see the virus spread rapidly again and that will take us

back to square one. and dental practices in england have been told they can be open from monday but only if they put appropriate safety measures in place. alex runs a small basement bar. it's just him and one other member of staff doing bottles of cocktails online. it's other three workers are furloughed and he's now worried

about what the chancellor is about to serve up. the scheme has been incredibly welcome as a lifeline to the sector. with revenues still next to zero and a growing sense bases like this might not be able to open again this year, any changes in that could be cataclysmic. if the 80% is reduced, businesses like mine would either run out of cash very quickly or be forced to lay off furloughed staff. the scheme was launched in april and currently pays 80% of workers' wages up to a maximum of £2500 per worker. originally, it was set to run until the end ofjune. figures this week show that 8.4 million workers are now covered by the scheme. the total cost could be £80 billion now the scheme is being extended, but employers, it seems, will have to share some of the costs. for some employers, that won't be too much of a problem, being able to pay a small fraction, 20% of wages, in order to keep their employees on the books. but for other employers, even a 20% towards wages might be

really quite difficult. so we may find that in some sectors, quite a lot of people are losing theirjobs and in others, they are being kept on. and what about the millions of self—employed workers? will their support scheme be extended 7 rebecca is a childminder and runs an early years training business. she says the grant has been a huge help. if there is no more self—employment grant, obviously we will have two consider considerable savings within the household and cuts we can make. things like looking at our shopping bill, utility bills, and, so, it's quite a difficult situation to be faced with. how best to gradually remove all this emergency support for businesses and their workers without inflicting massive job losses these schemes were brought in to prevent. it's a difficult balancing act for the chancellor, who will reveal his plans later today.

emma simpson, bbc news. with me now is our chief political correspondent vicki young. he correspondent vicki young. said that this furloughi is he said that this furloughing scheme is about preserving businesses, suspending them so that they can restart when lockdown disease, but it is not as simple as that.” restart when lockdown disease, but it is not as simple as that. i think particularly for some sectors where they do not yet have a date for when they do not yet have a date for when they can reopen and in england, wales and scotland as well it is much more problematic, because if you as a business are looking at having to contribute something in august, you simply do not know what state your business is going to be m, state your business is going to be in, whether it can rebound in the way that everyone hopes it will do. yes, this game was designed to save as manyjobs as possible but the chancellor has in the past been brutally honest signing —— there is no way he can save everyjob and it does depend on the recession that the uk is going through and the chancellor saying it will be like

when we have never known before and of course whether that recovery will be very quick or not. this really was like an emergency dose of painkiller but no one can be sure onceit painkiller but no one can be sure once it starts to wear of exactly what it will feel like. i suppose we have to remember that the reason the chancellor has to do this is because the furlough scheme has cost the treasury a vast amount of money. yes and among conservative mps particularly there is anxiety about how that will be paid, there is going to be some difficult decisions ahead with the government, in terms of how they do that and you think back to the general election and the promises that borisjohnson made about things he wants to do across the united kingdom and all of that will have an impact, do you raise taxes, make cuts in public services? no one can really envisage that with the nhs given the climate that we are in. some really difficult decisions, but i think there has been a lot of unanimity about the

need for this, that something huge was required to make sure that in the short—term at least the uk economy and the livelihoods of people were protected. many thanks and we will be talking to you again shortly before the downing street briefing starts. thank you. as the coronavirus lockdown begins to ease, the nations of the uk are facing different restrictions. in england, up to six people will be allowed to meet outdoors from monday, including in people's gardens, as long as people from different households stay two metres apart. in scotland, some restrictions are relaxed from today, meaning one household can meet with one other, to a maximum of eight people, again, as long as that is outside, and distancing rules are maintained. and some outdoor sports can resume, including golf, tennis, bowls and fishing. the welsh government is changing its message from "stay at home" to "stay local". from monday, people from two different households will be able to gather outdoors in their local

area, with no restriction on the numbers attending. in northern ireland, weddings may be allowed from eighth june, as long as they're outdoors and no more than ten people are present. and large retailers such as car showrooms and shops in retail parks will also be allowed to reopen. one of the government's advisers on the pandemic has made it clear he thinks the lockdown measures should stay in place for longer, to bring new infections down first. at a briefing forjournalists, professorjohn edmunds from the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine said infection levels were still currently "very high". with me is our health correspondent anna collinson. first of all explain what professor edmonds was saying and why he was saying it. professorjohn edmonds is an adviser to the official sage committee and at a briefing to journalists earlier he claimed easing the lockdown came with a degree of risk and it was actually a

political decision. he says he is concerned by the current coronavirus infection levels, calling them still very high, let us give you an idea of where we are. let us talk about the r number which tells us about how infectious the virus currently is and we heard yesterday it is somewhere between 0.7 and 0.9 and it can vary across regions. we somewhere between 0.7 and 0.9 and it can vary across regions. we are somewhere between 0.7 and 0.9 and it can vary across regions. we are just under one and that is critical because if we go above that, it means the virus is growing. yesterday the government in england lodged its test and try system and thatis lodged its test and try system and that is where those who come into contact with the person who has the virus will be asked to self—isolate for 14 days there were concerns that the system is being brought in and basically the restrictions are being eased too quickly without that system being ready to go and maybe more time should have been given for that system to get things going. one scientist said to me, we are sailing very close to the wind when it comes

to levels of infection, there is not much room for things to go wrong. the professor talks about infection levels estimated at around 8000 a day in england and that is higher than what the daily briefing suggest. those figures are from the ons and they have estimated 5a,000 new coronavirus infections per week in england and what we see with our daily figures and what we are seen in the press briefings, that is a fraction of what is going on. that is the problem with a lot of the data, it only covers certain areas and as time goes on we are getting more and more of a clearer picture of what is happening with the data and that is where the discrepancy comes from. we have as always got lots of questions being filmed in or written in by viewers and i wonder ifi written in by viewers and i wonder if i can put some of them to you. janet writes in from hull and she is talking about the easing of the

lockdown and she says, in light of the new regulations outlined yesterday and allowing groups of up to six people to meet outside in england, what is the advise for the over 70s. i think a lot of people will be asking that. we know that the older you are unfortunately, the more you are at risk of catching coronavirus and also that you will have a serious reaction to it. this even applies to those who have pre—existing medical conditions and the advice to the over 70s currently across the uk is to take particular ca re across the uk is to take particular care and to minimise contact with others outside your household. we should all be following social distancing measures but particularly if you are over 70. if you are over 70 and have been asked to shield for now, unfortunately, the advice is for you to stay as you are. there are nearly 2 million people in this group across the uk with serious medical conditions and are most at risk of the virus and they had been in lockdown since the beginning, they are not able to go shopping or

exercise, it is extremely isolating and extremely difficult to go through. the government across the uk are promising to look after this group, buti uk are promising to look after this group, but i have spoken to a 23—year—old woman who falls into this group earlier today and she said that she hopes that people remember people like her when they are thinking about breaking the rules. very difficult for them. have another question from taryn who asks, in england if you are socially distancing in a garden with up to six people, will you be allowed to use the toilet and a host of the host? everyone once answering this question. it is a bit of a mixed bag, you mentioned england, if you are visiting another house, of course keeping into that group of six people, you can use the toilet if you really need it, but you must thoroughly clean surfaces afterwards. as we heard yesterday, it is important that we are washing our hands thoroughly and wiping down

services. in scotland and wales, you cannot use the toilet, that is important. i was speaking to the welsh government press office about this and they say that if you have to go into a house or garden you have to go straight through the house and cannot stop and you must keep that to metre distance between other people. their concern and the reason for not letting people use the toilets is that people may leave the toilets is that people may leave the virus on surfaces and as we know, the virus can last for hours, sometimes even days. northern ireland has not yet made a decision on this about families being indoors. we have another question and it is, is the government saying that two families of four, adults and children cannot mate? that rules out many families in england. and children cannot mate? that rules out many families in englandm definitely does and currently that is the situation in england, only groups of up to six people in a house. george eustace was talking about this to the bbc earlier and he said the reason was that they want to maintain that key to metre

distance and they feared that if two families with several children in each family met in a garden, maintaining that distance would be difficult. while the children seem to be at least risk of catching the virus, we are still unsure about their transmission levels and what role they play in passing the virus on. it is important that we treat them as seriously as an adult. i have spoken to an epidemiologist about this and he said we need to avoid further circulation and while it may feel inconvenient for families, nothing is more inconvenient than the lockdown we have been through so far and it is important to follow government advice. in scotland and wales, two families with two children could meet up and scotland says groups of no more than eight and in wales, we have no limit but both governments are urging real caution and they are making the decision because the virus is still a risk. really useful and really interesting. dental practices are allowed to reopen in england on 8thjune, as long as they've put in place extra safety measures.

surgeries have been closed since the end of march, which means some patients have had to take drastic action. danjohnson has been speaking to people who've carried out eye—watering diy home dentistry and i should warn you that this includes pictures that you might find hard to watch. i've been in pain since the end of march. i just couldn't cope with the pain any more. i would've gone through birth rather than that pain. it was horrendous. i've been told more antibiotics or tooth out. i didn't realise how hard it would be to take out a molar. i can go to mcdonald's but i can't go to a dentist. we had to use these pliers here. it's dentistry of a victorian age. i mean, we don't do dentistry like that. over the weeks, our virtual waiting room has been filling up, with patients in pain, unable to get treatment. it makes my blood boil, to be honest. i'm not interested in clothes, i'm not interested in clothes shops.

i just want my tooth sorted out. you know? so, i'm just outraged that this has just been, to me, ignored. emergency appointments have been hard to get and treatment options have been limited. the urgent dental hub won't see me anyway and even if they did, i'm not sure i want them to because i'll end up losing two teeth. so, then came stories of diy dentistry. it was quite tricky. i thought maybe 10 or 15 minutes but an hour and a half it took me. he said, "mum, think there's something wrong with my tooth." ii—year—old charlie's tooth fell out still attached to his braces that should have been taken off weeks ago. i tried to get it off myself because i thought maybe i should pull it off. but then i found out it was actually attached to a little piece of my brace. i've been a dentist 31 years and i have... this has shocked me to the core. the best their dentist could do was talk them through it over the phone. so, i had to ask charlie's mum

and dad if they'd got any pliers and they had to take these pliers to their child's mouth and i'm embarrassed that, as a profession, we can't look after our patients. i think it's kind of crazy that i was able to have a plumber here today to fix my waste disposal, but i can't get my son to a dentist. some dentists say they've been ready to reopen for weeks but not everyone can get the right protective equipment and there are fears higher costs and limited patient numbers, because of social distancing, will make it difficult to clear the backlog and hard to see a viable future for every practice. getting face—to—face with the dentist still won't be easy. dan johnson, bbc news. not n ot ofte n not often i find it hard to watch our own output but i think that was a particular occasion! a new rehabilitation facility, dedicated to helping coronavirus survivors recover from the long term

effects of the illness, has received its first patients. the seacole centre in surrey will give physical, mental and emotional support to those who've experienced the most severe symptoms. here's our health correspondent, laura foster. most people recover from covid—i9 in a matter of weeks, but for those who've had the most severe symptoms it can take months, maybe even more than a year. so nice to see you — how are you? long and intense hospital stays can leave people weak, struggling to breathe and to walk. morag says her mobility was so bad she couldn't even turn over in bed. i'm looking forward to walking up the stairs on my own. then i'll be independent as far as i'm concerned. it tookjust over a month to turn this former military hospital into a temporary centre, dedicated to helping those who don't need to be in hospital any more and those who are too weak to be at home. but this is notjust about giving physical support. psychologists, occupational health

experts, and speech and language therapists will also help patients emotionally. it must be very, very frightening to wake up knowing that you've probably been ventilated for two weeks, you've lost two weeks of you life, you may be lucky to be waking up, you haven't seen your loved ones, so the effects on mental health are probably going to be quite gate. though the numbers of covid—i9 patients in hospitals are falling, pressure is now being felt in community health care settings. we've obviouslyjust come through the first peak of coronavirus hospitalisations, and as we now look at patients who are returning home we can see that this extra rehab support is going to be needed right across the country, but this is not something that we think will be dealt with overjust the coming weeks. we're going to need this type of extra capacity available for months if not years to come. surviving the virus was one thing. but the long—term impact of it can go on much longer.

laura foster, bbc news. the number of cars on the roads in the uk has fallen dramatically in the last couple of months but the number of crashes hasn't. now, one of britain's biggest police forces is warning drivers to stop using empty roads as if they were racetracks, as phil mackie reports. racing down the m6 toll in staffordshire, this driver was clocked at over 140 mph, and he is not the only one using excess speed since lockdown began. on this stretch of dual carriageway in the black country, another driver was stopped doing i24. even here where the speed limit is 30, some drivers are doing nearly twice the speed limit. the amount of traffic on our roads during lockdown has fallen significantly, but the number of crashes and accidents has fallen by nearly as much, which is why west midlands police are running

operations like this to remind people that an empty road isn't an excuse to speed. people who drive ordinarily very safely, some of them are now seeing these roads are clear, and they are driving far too fast. there is a real hazard in doing that, even if the roads are clear. there is another group, the boy racers, and some of them are now taking the opportunity on the empty roads to use the roads as a race track. i'm delighted to see here that the police are taking tough action, certainly against those people speeding on this piece of road. at the start of lockdown, this motorbike led police on a chase through birmingham. the rider experienced action first hand. injust over an hour during this operation, they pulled over 24 drivers for speeding. eight were going so fast they will get a fine and three points. this driver was just given a warning. please slow down and pay attention to your surroundings. and the distraction of a telephone call, even though it's hands—free, obviously just pay a bit more attention. we are stopping and educating

people who are in excess of the speed limit, but what you would class as low—level speeding, and we are giving them roadside inputs around the risks that they are posing to themselves, other road users and the potential strain they are going to put on the nhs if they are involved in a collision. with roads quieter than ever, the problem is everywhere. a number of forces have reported an increase in speeding since the start of lockdown. greater manchester police recorded a driver doing 129 mph on the m62. police scotland said they recorded a driver doing 130 near aberdeen. and in london the met police clocked a driver doing 134 mph where the limit was 40. now lockdown's ending, roads are getting busy again. sadly when they were at their quietest of the number of speeding incidents didn't fall proportionately. and officers have continued to pursue those breaking the law. phil mackie, bbc news, birmingham.

if you're planning to make the most of the amended lockdown measures next week, how can you entertain your guests safely? well, one person who is undoubtetly an expert in hosting the perfect barbeque is christian stevenson, better known as dj barbeque. hejoins me from south london. good afternoon to you! should i call you christian or dj? just don't call me any bad names because my son is here! i wouldn't dream of doing that! i'll call you dj. it's a lovely weekend we have in prospect, dj, and many people will be thinking they can have a barbecue in england from monday but we are in an easing of lockdown stage, so any tips on how people can enjoy themselves but do it safely? i mean, i've been cooking barbecue every single day and i've been feeding my neighbour, you know? practising social distancing and doing lots of

cookouts. listen, everybody is having a barbecue right now because people are home a lot more, they are cooking out more but they are amongst family so how do you go to the next step? it is using common sense and long tongs and spatulas. and having one person use the tongs? i also have two pairs of tongs because when you're cooking chicken, you've got to make sure that you don't cross the salmonella, so i have one pair of tongs for cooking and one for the good food. that way you don't get sick. absolutely! give us some you don't get sick. absolutely! give us some recipe tips. as a good one. everyone wants put barbecue sauce really early in the cook. barbecue sauce has sugar in it so add at the end of the cook because sugar burns. you will have a hard time getting the charcoal going, so gets a newspaper, by some very good charcoal because it'll like better,

then by some of these things, they liked very quickly, these fire starters or get a chimney plume, a cone, and fill it with charcoal, but this underneath and when it lights, you'll have hot goals in six minutes. when you are doing state, it isa minutes. when you are doing state, it is a muscle to take it out of the fridge about 30 minutes to an hour before you cook it because it needs to temper, needs to get to room temperature before it goes on hot coals because you'll only get very angry and then it'll be "i'm really cold and i'm getting hot! i'm not going to taste good!" then rest your meat. don't put pepper on your stake before you grill because pepper can burn. pepper can go bitter. i pepper at the end stop by this are so helpful! what are you cooking at the moment, what's going on behind you? for some chicken wings. my son is making sure it's cooked all the way

through. he's blushing! it's dinner time! oh, dj, have we lost you? this is awful! i think it has frozen. i've got some chicken wings, but people think it is just meat we can do but live fire loves fruit and vegetables. your videos look rather meaty. i've got to make vegans in my family and a vegetarian so what do i do for them? i do lots of grilled veggies. the thing is you've got the grill. everybody puts their stuff there but underneath the grill is charcoal, another world of real estate to cook upon. today, i loaded up estate to cook upon. today, i loaded upa load estate to cook upon. today, i loaded up a load of onions into the goals and did some cold roasted onions, dirty onions. do aubergine. cou rg ette. dirty onions. do aubergine. courgette. onion. peppers. get them

on the grill, get them charged, they will taste better, olive oil and seasoning and you're good to go! then do a stake for yourself if you are not of egan, just don't put them together to look after your vegan friends. absolutely and they can be very hungry. they are all great tips but people will have to be careful when they get together on monday. it can only be six people in a garden. have you thought through if you were to invite people to your garden to join ina to invite people to your garden to join in a barbecue how would you make it safe? how will you make it safe ? make it safe? how will you make it safe? everybody makes sure they wash their hands. it's all in the passing of plates and cutlery and those things. i think i'd have it all laid out, make sure people practice good hygiene. and just follow the government rules. this is a big move for us this weekend. i've got my neighbour, stephen, right now that i've been cooking for him for 2.5

months, and my kids! to have adult companies going to be amazing, man! so, you can have him in your garden rather than just hand it over the fence? we are organising a festival for next weekend, it is called steve nfest. for next weekend, it is called stevenfest. will people bring their own cutlery, plates and source? thing is, my friends are that careful i won't have to ask them. they probably won't want to come over anywhere because they are very careful, as are my. i started self isolating a week before we went on lockdown. listen, i'm learning like you guys but it's all about hygiene and wiping everything down and then using your sanitiser. we went to the park yesterday and we tried to safe distance meeting at but it is always... everybody has hand

sanitiser, and whatever drink you have... picnics are easier because everything is prepared but you are still handing things across so be careful, use common sense because i don't want this virus, man! it sucks! and on that note, dj barbeque, christian stephenson, thank you for talking to us, thank you so much, and enjoy yourfood, it looks wonderful. happy grilling! thanks for having me! today's news conference is just a few minutes away. let's speak again to our chief political correspondent, vicki young. and we will hear from the chancellor rishi sunak who will give us more details of what's going to happen with the fellow scheme. this is all about retaining jobs. so, with the fellow scheme. this is all about retainingjobs. so, helping people as soon as the coronavirus closed businesses, helping people with their livelihoods, and we already know this scheme was extended until the end of october. a

number of mps have written to the chancellor particular concerns about the self—employed. they are asking for more generosity to make sure that scheme can continue past the weekend. the chancellor has made it clear he does want to save as many jobs as possible but acknowledges it won't be possible to save all of them. how they have described it is they want an economy in some kind of fit state for people to go back to say they want as many thriving businesses to still be there, and they've had to help people in the meantime. of course, there is the longer term issue of how all this is paid for, and that will mean some very difficult decisions. decisions the conservative government didn't think they would have to make back in december. how do you pay for it? do you continue to pay more? do you raise taxes? what do you do about the funding of public services? a lot of difficult questions for mps and the government in particular but for now this is still about

supporting people, will be at the chancellor will start to ask businesses to start paying something towards all office from the beginning of august which will be difficult for some. if you think about the hospitality industry, no set date for when restaurants and cafes can reopen, so some of them might look at this and think in august i don't know if i can afford to pay anything towards these staff, so the fear is jobs will be lost, despite this huge state intervention. she here comes the chancellor now. good evening. i am joined here in downing street by the medical director of nhs england. let me begin tonight with the latest figures. 4,000,040 tests have been carried out in the uk including 131,458 carried out in the uk including 131 , 458 test carried out in the uk including

131,458 test yesterday. 271,222 people have tested positive, an increase of 2095 cases since yesterday. sadly, of those who tested positive for coronavirus across all settings, 38,106 to one people have now died. that's an increase of 324 fatalities since yesterday. our thoughts as always with the family and friends of those who have lost their lives. today ‘s figures confirm what prime minister has said, we are past the peak, where flattening the curve. we have protected the nhs and the number of deaths is falling. over the coming weeks, we can now take careful, but deliberate steps to reopen our economy. across the country, office lights will be turned on and windows thrown open. workloads that mega

workflows and school uniforms will be taken out, shops and start to hum with activity. as we enter this new phase, will change. businesses will need to become coverage secure to protect staff and customers. we will all need to stay alert as we go about our daily lives and as britain returns to work, we need to adapt to the emergency programmes we put in place to bridge through the crisis. because of those programmes, our economic prospects are better than they otherwise would have been. we have provided tens of billions of pounds of tax cuts, tax deferrals, cash grants and discounted loans for businesses. income protection for millions of the self—employed. a strength and safety net to protect millions of our most vulnerable people and ourjob retention scheme has now supported more than a millionjobs and has now supported more than a million jobs and over a

has now supported more than a millionjobs and over a million businesses. no british government, labour or conservative, has ever done anything like this. i believe it has made a real difference. but as we reopen the economy, there is broad consensus across the political and economic spectrum, the furlough scheme cannot continue indefinitely. two weeks ago, i outlined the principles of my approach. the furlough scheme will remain open all the way until october and we will ask employers to start contributing ask employers to start contributing as we also introduce flexible following. employees will see no change to their level of support. as promised, i can provide more details today. i believe it is right, in the final phase of this eight month scheme to ask employers to contribute, alongside the taxpayer, towards the wages of their staff. but i understand that businesses and

employers have been through an incredibly difficult time. so, i have decided to ask employers to pay only a modest contribution, introduced slowly over the coming months. in june and july, introduced slowly over the coming months. injune and july, the scheme will continue as before, with no employer contribution at all. in august, the taxpayer contribution to the wages of people will stay at 80% and employers will only be asked to pay national insurance and employer pension contributions, which for the average claim, account for just pension contributions, which for the average claim, account forjust 5% of total employment costs. by september, employers will have had the opportunity to make any necessary changes to the workplace are business practices and only then,in are business practices and only then, in the final two months of this eight month scheme, will be ask employers to start paying towards the wages of people. in september, taxpayers will pay 70% of the

furlough ground with employers contributing 10%. in october, taxpayers will pay 6% and employers will contribute 10%. —— 60%. then after eight months, of this extraordinary intervention with the government stepping in to help pay wages, the scheme will close. the biggest request i have heard from businesses, large and small, right across our country, is to have the flexibility to decide what is right for them. so, to protectjobs, and help businesses decide how quickly to bring their workforce back, we are introducing a new, more flexible furlough. this is a critical part of our plan to kick—start the economy. the financial security of the furlough scheme has been a relief for many, but at the same time, people want to work. no one wants to be at home on furlough, no one wants

to feel unable to contribute. so hmrc and the treasury have worked ha rd to hmrc and the treasury have worked hard to put the flexible furlough in place, not from august the 1st, as originally planned, but from july the 1st, one month early. from july the 1st, one month early. from july the 1st, one month early. from july the 1st, employers will have the maximum possible flexibility to decide on the right arrangements for them and their furloughed staff. for instance, if you are watching at home on furlough, your employer to bring you back two days a week and they would pay you for those days as normal, while the furlough scheme will continue to cover you for the other three working days. to allow us other three working days. to allow us to introduce this new flexible furlough from the 1st ofjuly, we will need to close the old scheme to new entrants on june will need to close the old scheme to new entrants onjune the 30th. employers wanting to place new employees on the scheme will need to do this by the 10th ofjune to allow them time to complete the minimum furlough period before then.

alongside the furlough scheme for employees, our economic response has also supported the self—employed. 2.3 million people have now applied for our income support scheme. i know people have been waiting to hear whether the scheme will be extended and i understand people have been anxious. i can confirm today that the self—employment income scheme will be extended with applications opening in august for a second and final grant. the final grant will work in the same way as the first aid, paid out in a single instalment covering three months worth of average monthly profit. to maintain the sense of fairness, alongside thejob maintain the sense of fairness, alongside the job retention scheme, the value of the final grant will be 70%, up to a total of £6,570. otherwise, they will be no changes and no further extensions to the schemes, which continue to be some of the most generous in the world.

our economic of the most generous in the world. 0ur economic response of the most generous in the world. our economic response to of the most generous in the world. 0ur economic response to coronavirus was designed to keep people in work, protect the incomes of people and support businesses. all to give us the best chance of recovering quickly as the economy reopens. these measures have been on a scale unmatched by any government in recent history. but i do want to acknowledge that we have not been able to support everyone in the exact way they would want. i understand some people have felt frustrated, but you were not and have not been forgotten. even if you do not qualify for the furlough or self employment schemes, we have provided a wide range of support, from discounted loans, to tax cuts, mortgage holidays and enhanced welfare. now our thoughts and our energies and our resources must turn to looking forward to planning for the recovery. and we will need the

dynamism of our whole economy as we fight our way back to prosperity. not everything will look the same as before. it won't be the case that we can simply put the key in the lot, open the door and step into the world as it was injanuary. we will develop new measures to grow the economy, to back business, to boost skills and to help people thrive in the new post covered world. today, a new national collective effort begins, to reopen our country and kick—start our economy, thank you. —— the new post covid world. kick—start our economy, thank you. -- the new post covid world. thank you chancellor. i would like to take you chancellor. i would like to take you through the data slides today. the first slide, as ever, provide some data on social distancing and how our response has been to our social distancing guidelines and this is information coming from the office for national statistics

opinion and lifestyle survey 21st to the 24th of may and that shows that 88% of adults have avoided contact with older and vulnerable people, that 98% of adults have said that they tried to stay at least two metres away from other people when outside their home. 29% of adults are now using a face covering when outside their home to slow the spread of covid—19 and 39% of adults in employment have been working from home compared to around 12% last year. again, good evidence of compliance with social distancing measures. the next slide takes us into testing and the number of new cases and as you can see in the top graph, the number of tests undertaken each day has been increasing and that is increased very much during april and into may and you can see that that number continues to be at a level above 100,000. on the bottom graph you can

see the new confirmed cases that have come out of that testing and you can again see that there is a steady decline in those numbers, particularly noticeable on the seven day rolling average, but as i think the chief scientist said yesterday, the chief scientist said yesterday, the office for national statistics survey of random householders and individuals it showed that there are indeed more cases that are coming forward as part of this testing programme and now that test and trace is in place, we anticipate that that gap may close between those figures. next slide. now we look at data from hospitals. the first shows the estimated new daily admissions with covid—19 in england, thatis admissions with covid—19 in england, that is the top graph and you can see that there has been a steady decline in the number of new daily admissions since the middle of april. that decline is still there, perhaps slowing a little, but we are still seen that decline. in the bottom graph, you can see data

concerning our sickest patients and those require treatment in intensive ca re those require treatment in intensive care unitand those require treatment in intensive care unit and require mechanical ventilation and this is expressed as a percentage of our total mechanical ventilator beds occupied by covid—19 patients and you can see that in all four countries, that has been steadily declining since april, again showing the effect of social distancing measures in our sickest patients. that is a decline, down 13% from a week ago, the 21st of may. the next slide shows more information on hospitalisation, this is people in hospital overall, people in any bed with covid—19. 8287 people in a hospital, down from 9397 last week, a drop of over 1000. the graphs show that on a regional

basis, you can see throughout the uk, and the devolved administrations, that there are a steady decline throughout and again asi steady decline throughout and again as i have said before, the most dramatic decline has been in london, which had the most dramatic peak and the highest peak in april. in the next slide and the final slide, we move to deaths and again the saddest component of this dataset. you can see that the measure here is the seven day rolling average, which ta kes seven day rolling average, which takes out the variation that we see from day to day and particularly reporting variations at weekends and you can see that the seven day rolling average is continuing to decline and the chancellor has provided information on the deaths today, 324 in all settings, deaths confirmed with a positive test. thank you. thank you steve. if we turn to questions from the public. we start with will from manchester. during lockdown there has been a

drastic fall in c02 emissions and many of the changes to our life styles many of the changes to our lifestyles and sacrifices we have made will help tackle climate change. what specifically are the government doing to maintain these low emission rights as lockdown is eased and will these concerns be central to rebuilding the economy? thanks. really important question. i will say a couple of things, the most obvious and immediate change we have seen is how people are getting around, commuting, seeing people and using cycling and i think that is a trend that hopefully will stick and more people have discovered cycling and it is something that we can all do, it is good for the environment and also good for our health and well—being. to a broader question about climate change and tackling the emissions as part of our economic recovery, absolutely. in march which seems like a long time ago we had a budget and in the budget i talked a lot about our future plans for investment and in

growth and mentioned a range of different initiatives that we will ta ke forward different initiatives that we will take forward over the next few years for this agenda, one of which is preserving our natural capital and we have a new nature for climate fund and we will be investing in our environment. i talked about the importance of carbon capture and storage, technology that will take carbon from the air and sequester it underground and we said that we will invest several hundred million pounds in the next few years in developing that technology and that could benefit thousands of newjobs in places like the north—east and teesside and humberside, whether conditions exist to do something like that and i believe we can be a world leader. it is important now in our change behaviour and we should keep that, but lots of exciting plans for the future as well. steve, do you want to add something? in the nhs we want to reduce emissions and help protect the environment. the plan we over a year

ago, we focused on this, too. one specific example, one of the things we wa nted specific example, one of the things we wanted to achieve in that plan was to significantly reduce the number of face—to—face appointments in hospitals, a lot of those can be managed remotely, digitally, on the telephone and by other methods. in doing that we knew we'd cut down the amount of nhs —related transport people need to use to get to those appointments and we've estimated 5% of traffic during a normal week might be nhs related so that would have a significant impact and it would protect some of the patients we have two c are respiratory patients, patients with chest disease which can be affected by pollution in the environment. one of the things we seen during the coronavirus crisis over the last month is we have moved very rapidly to implement some of the changes we wa nted to implement some of the changes we wanted to make so we have increased the number of remote digital telephone consultations, both in

hospitals and in general practice and other aspects of community and primary care, and we want to hold onto that, that's something we were going to do anyway. so, as we come out into the new world of managing covid going forward, we want to ensure we keep that approach as much as possible to benefit patients, to do things betterfor as possible to benefit patients, to do things better for patients, as possible to benefit patients, to do things betterfor patients, more simply for patients and to protect the environment. brilliant, thank you. we turn next to simona from eastbourne. simona, thank you. there is a range of measures we have put in place. the various schemes we have will benefit people in different ways. the furlough scheme is there. for those who are self—employed, they have the self employed support income scheme which is helping people as well. for those who may

run their own business, we have provided tax cuts and temporary discounted loans to help bridge through the crisis and, of course, crucially, we have strengthened the safety net for those who are most vulnerable in our society with temporary increases to universal credit, to working tax credits, local housing allowance to help with rent payments alongside mortgage holidays and providing councils with a fund to help people pay their council tax bills if they are facing difficulty. importa ntly, though, because of the hard work of everyone and the progress we have made, we are, as the prime minister announced, able to start reopening our primary schools from the 1st of june, starting with those in the earliest year settings and some of the first couple of years of primary school which will help, allow more people to get back to work, as we can reopen our schools and allow our children to come back to those settings as well. great. if a return

to some questions from the media. first up, faisal islam from the bbc. thank you. in the first instance, is your general message to workers who work for companies without the cash flow to pay even their national insurance and pensions contributions and the self—employed that 100 billion is your limit, and unemployment will spike? and, then, more generally, to stephen powis, perhaps, what is happening with the assessment of the joint bio—security centre? a assessment of the joint bio—security centre ? a lot assessment of the joint bio—security centre? a lot was made of this by the prime minister when it was first announced that the lockdown was to be loosened. is it at four, is it at three, is it between them? if it hasn't gone down, why are we loosening things up? thanks. in terms of the employer contribution and will employers be able to meet it, a couple of things. first of all, in aggregate, the scheme is

generous. eight months is a long time to have the support. if you look at the total employer contribution over that entire period ona contribution over that entire period on a typical employee average employee on the scheme, it will amount to the employer making a 5% contribution of the total employment cost they would have otherwise have faced over the last eight months, there are only have to contribute 5% of that if they were there for the entire time so i think that is reasonable and affordable. that first month you talked about in august, because we are only in that month asking employees to contribute national insurance and the pension cost, we know from the numbers we have, around 40% of all employers currently don't pay those at all because they don't quite qualify, they are not eligible to pay them so 40% of people will not be affected by that change at all which gives those smaller companies an extra month of breathing room. in terms of cash flow, which is a fair question,

we are focused around this entire crisis and making sure we provide liquidity support to businesses and we have a range of loan products available which have proved to be successful. 600,000 available which have proved to be successful. 600 , 000 bounce available which have proved to be successful. 600,000 bounce back loa ns successful. 600,000 bounce back loans have been issued to businesses. with the furlough scheme, we have designed it in a way that companies can apply in advance of payroll so they receive the grant from government to help pay their payroll as well which was a big ask for a business and we were able to design a scheme in a way that did that which will help with cash flow. do you want to take the other question? thank you. on the joint bio—security centre, that is currently under development, it is setting itself up with advice from various government departments. i know it is feeding its information even at this early stage into the four chief medicalfor even at this early stage into the four chief medical for subs, who have to think about alert levels across the country is in the uk. from the nhs point of view, if i can

speakfrom from the nhs point of view, if i can speak from the nhs from the nhs point of view, if i can speakfrom the nhs point from the nhs point of view, if i can speak from the nhs point of view, one of the key things we can ensure is that we are linked into the joint bio—security centre so that any changes in alert levels or any changes in alert levels or any changes in alert levels or any changes in the early warnings around the virus can be used by the nhs in determining its planning going forward. so we need to be able to respond as we did so magnificently in april. if we see the change in infection, the nhs needs to do that again so it's important we link into the centre so that we have that dialogue and understand when we might need to adapt what we are doing. anything to follow up on? can i check that 100 billion number, is that roughly what we are looking out for the total cost of the two schemes of eight months? just to stephen powis, what has gone on with the testing numbers? we didn't have people tested numbers for six days, have you sorted out the problem?e

the office for budget responsibility have provided a range of estimates which i would point you to and we publish a weekly calculator or projection of where we are in the scheme and total claims and it is difficult now to say what the aggregate cost over the entire life will be because now we have introduced part time following for the last few months of this scheme forjuly, that religious people is working patterns, bring people back from fellow into work, and it's difficult to predict how that will work so i can't give your precise estimate but i'd refer you to the obr numbers which you referenced which are probably the best estimate we have at the moment from anyone who has looked at this in detail.|j cannot give you an answer on the testing numbers but testing is increasing all the time. and this week we have started adding the antibody test, the test that tells you whether you have had the virus,

rather than if you have got it, and thatis rather than if you have got it, and that is being rolled out now in hospitals and health care facilities as we speak. brilliant. thank you. if we can turn next to ed conway from sky. thank you. it feels like a big moment because it is the moment we are beginning to take the uk off this extraordinary support scheme. is it fairto this extraordinary support scheme. is it fair to say in economic terms this is where the easy bit ends and the tough bit begins? so, unemployment rises and so on. and how tough a period to the british people need to prepare themselves for? if i can ask another question supplementary to that, you are calling this the flexible furlough scheme which raises a bit of a question. in the event there is a second spike in the virus involving some more lockdown measures, will you undertake to switch the furlough scheme back on? or once it is over, it is over? thank you. i think,

after your first question about difficulty, many businesses already have been facing an enormous amount of difficulty. many people have been facing an enormous amount of difficulty. you asked about unemployment, despite this being an extraordinary intervention we have put in place, we can't protect every singlejob and put in place, we can't protect every single job and every single business. i have aimed and try to make the scheme as generous as possible in terms of its duration and flexibility, the contributions we are asking, to try to protect as many of those jobs as possible and people in the bank of england or the obr, they've talked about the fact the scheme has achieved that aim and it will mean we are in a better place than we would have been otherwise. i agree with you, there will be hardship ahead for many. that rests heavily on my shoulders. iam very that rests heavily on my shoulders. i am very conscious on that. we are working very hard and i will work very ha rd to working very hard and i will work very hard to make sure all of those

who lose theirjobs as a result of what is happening that i'm working as hard as i can to get them back into work in good work as quickly as possible. in regards to the scheme, this scheme as it stands in the way it is designed, it'll end in october but if you look around the world but how long people have put these in place for, that compares very favourably. eight months is a generous and long period of time and allows companies across the uk to slowly ra m p allows companies across the uk to slowly ramp back up and gives them the best possible support that it can to do that. anything? do you wa nt to can to do that. anything? do you want to follow up? since i have a chance, i will. want to follow up? since i have a chance, iwill. you want to follow up? since i have a chance, i will. you talked about planning for the recovery, and, as pa rt of planning for the recovery, and, as part of that, you might need extra tax measures and stimulus measures to try to get the economy going. you talk about kick—starting the economy. can you give us an example of what that might comprise? will there be an emergency budget,

perhaps? i'm always asked about these things and you'll forgive me for giving the same answer which is i can't and will not talk about future budgets today. in terms of the format or timing of that, of something like that rather than the content, what i'd said previously as i was planning to have an autumn budget to get us back to the cycle of autumn budgets. we released times of autumn budgets. we released times of things like that in the normal course of business and that is what we will do. thank you. next, andy bell from channel 5. hello. we will do. thank you. next, andy bell from channels. hello. thank you very much. to the chancellor, the government has always said it is following the science on its dealings with the coronavirus crisis but downing street this morning confirmed that the alert level remains at four. the prime minister has said it was hopeful it would go down to three but it remains at four. under the government's own definition of these levels, it is only at three you can have the

gradual relaxation of restrictions but we are going ahead with the relaxation of restrictions, certainly in england. does that mean we are no longer following the science? are we prepared to take decisions on other factors? dr powis, how worried are you we are being a bit too risky about how we are going forward with relaxing these restrictions? in terms of moving forward, what we've always said as we have set out the five tests very clearly and because we are now meeting the five tests because of the heroic efforts of eve ryo ne because of the heroic efforts of everyone at home, the nhs, everyone, we are in a position to carefully and deliberately start to release the restrictions. i wouldn't say thatis the restrictions. i wouldn't say that is happening in a reckless way. it is being done in quite a measured way, progressively, it is being done in quite a measured wgy, progressively, to it is being done in quite a measured way, progressively, to make sure we can keep an eye on things, and we are not running before we should. so, my view is we have set the tests out, we are meeting the test, so we are ina out, we are meeting the test, so we are in a position to do these moves.

they are progressive and leisured moves. we are constantly keeping an eye on everything. and i think steve would echo that, there has been no change in the dialogue relationship we have or advice we receive. we remain cognisant of the scientific advice, engaged in it and listen to it strongly. as you know, the important thing is to keep the transmission rate, r, below one because that means the number of infections is declining over time, rather than increasing. and we all wa nt to rather than increasing. and we all want to ensure that remains the case and the scientific advice of the government will be how that can be done through a range of different measures or approaches. it is important going forward because we still do have infections in the community, 7000—8000, according to the office for national statistics. it is really important we monitor infection rates in the community very closely. and if there is any hint or sign the infection rates are

going back up, that the r rate is going back up, that the r rate is going above one, that action is taken to make sure r goes below one again. and that'll be the scientific advice, and i am sure the government would also want to take account of that advice as well in keeping r below one so we can avoid any second peak will increase in the virus. cani can i come back on that? the prime minister sounds like he was clearly hoping that we could go from four to three, we haven't done that but we have pressed ahead anyway and it looks like the decision has been taken and looks like the decision has been ta ken and whatever the looks like the decision has been taken and whatever the advice coming, we pressed ahead regardless. i'm not sure that is right. we have made these decisions we did them in conjunction with the latest scientific advice and steve and his collea g u es scientific advice and steve and his colleagues are completely aware of everything we are doing and i think the other thing that steve touched on which is important in the

conversations i've had with sir patrick or chris whitty are around our ability to now keep an eye on things, which because of the test, track and trace system and the new surveillance operation and the information we are gathering, that is something that has change from where we are previously, we have stood up, and made a very impressive effort and i pay tribute to everyone involved, this ability to really track what is happening and measure what is happening across the country and react quickly if need be in a more targeted fashion and i know thatis more targeted fashion and i know that is something and the sand keen for us to put in place and gives them confidence that we can move forward in this way, but we will be able to spot problems and react quickly and in a targeted fashion student need arise. brilliant. turning next to anna from the daily telegraph. hello. many businesses have said they will struggle to stay

afloat with the two metre distancing rule in place, particularly in hospitality. this week the prime minister suggested he would like to see the rule reduced, would you like to see it reduced? i agree with the prime minister and i think what he said was, we would keep it under review, as we do all of the health restrictions and measures we have put in place to help tackle the virus. of course, like anything else, we talk about these things with our scientific colleagues and we understand the risks involved and if there are reasons that are sound for adjusting things as we go, as we have progressively made other changes to our restrictions, of course we will consider that but we are not there at this point and we keep everything under review. steve? i think keep everything under review. steve? ithink sir keep everything under review. steve? i think sir patrick vallance give a good description of the science and some of the things around the two metre rule yesterday. it is not an absolute, there is an increasing amount of risk the more closer you

are to an individual and the longer you are close to somebody and that is the basis for the contact tracing in test and trace and there are a number of other mitigations that can be taken around that to metre rule. i don't think the scientific evidence has changed and the scientific evidence will continue to be presented to the government and of course, if new evidence becomes available at any time, of course that must be taken into account, but i don't think the science has fundamentally changed. anna, anything else? circling back to the tax question earlier, you said you don't want to comment on future budgets and i understand that, but the prime minister in answer to that question this week reaffirmed that he would maintain a commitment to all tory manifesto pledges which include the triple tax lock. when you also now reaffirm that you will not get rid of that manifesto commitment? i agree with the prime

minister and i will go back to what isaid minister and i will go back to what i said before, minister and i will go back to what isaid before, i minister and i will go back to what i said before, i am minister and i will go back to what isaid before, iam not minister and i will go back to what i said before, i am not going to write future budgets today. brilliant. james from the mail online. so far the public sector has escaped the wage cuts from the furlough and talking about nhs workers who have protected through the crisis, is it going to be possible to shield the wider public sector from the economic fallout of this? and professor stephen powis, is there any safe where you can share a barbecue or should we be looking more to picnics over the coming weeks? thank you. our public sector workers have done an amazing job, many of them on the front line, obviously in the nhs but also local councils up and down the country, helping us respond and now schoolteachers will also be over the

last few weeks have been making changes and getting ready to work in a new way, to welcome children back to school, which is fantastic and they all deserve our praise and thanks. if you are asking about the future pay and the situation for public sector workers, many people in the public sector are in the middle of pay deals, for the example nurses and the agenda for change deal is in the middle of it, and last year you remember we had an inflation busting pay rise for about 1 million public sector workers. there is a process that happens and there are a pay review bodies that provide advice and collect evidence and a process will be under way as normal and that will be the mechanism through which those decisions are made later on this year. i think if you are in a private garden having a barbecue, whether you are in a park, the fundamental rules around safety remain, which is the two metre rule is to stay distant from each other at all times, to maintain hand

hygiene, to ensure your hands are clea n hygiene, to ensure your hands are clean and you are washing your hands frequently. i think it is those general principles around safety and reducing the risk of transmission which need to be applied in any setting, as those locked measures begin to be relaxed and more individuals can get together, maintain social distancing and maintain social distancing and maintain hand hygiene. anything else? i wasjust wondering whether you considered if it be appropriate for ministers to take pay cuts in solidarity with a lot of workers who are facing the same? i wasn't aware of that happening in new zealand but thanks for letting me know. with all public sector pay there is probably a process for that as well which of course we will look into. thank you for flagging course we will look into. thank you forflagging that to course we will look into. thank you for flagging that to me. course we will look into. thank you forflagging that to me. next course we will look into. thank you for flagging that to me. next and

finally, nathan stanley from hull daily mail. thank you chancellor and good afternoon. the first part of my question is for professor stephen powis, this we globalise data from the department of health suggest that hull still has a high infection rate compared to other parts of the country that perhaps experience their peaks country that perhaps experience their pea ks early country that perhaps experience their peaks early on in the pandemic and does that mean that hull is still susceptible to the virus as these restrictions are lifted across these restrictions are lifted across the board and does it mean that people in whole or more likely to see local lockdowns imposed? secondly, to the chancellor, hull has one of the worst unemployment rates in the country, national holidays has gone bust and piano says it will need millions of it is going to survive this crisis and the ca rava n going to survive this crisis and the caravan industry, huge employer here is really struggling, so what is your message to people in hull who are struggling during this crisis and the billions that you have spoke

about in the cost of these games, there is a fraction of the 500 billion that was thrown at banks responsible for the 2008 prices, silk can this tory government pledge to support the workers it has been protecting throughout after these schemes laps? thank you. in terms of specific support for businesses in hull, like businesses across the country, many businesses in hull would have received holidays for their business rates for the entire year, the cancellation of business write and you talked about the tourism industry and caravans, that industry has benefited from the rates cut, around 4000 or so businesses in hull would have received a grant from the government from around £20,000 or businesses in the most affected industries like hospitality and leisure and of

course they have access to all the discounted loans and other things that we have done. i think a broader point i would say, going back to what i said earlier about our ambitions for net zero, in the budget i outlined a range of investment in our region is up and down the country over the next few yea rs down the country over the next few years and a place like hull would be a beneficiary of that and we talked about carbon capture and storage in an earlier answer and obviously the region around hull has seen amazing growth in offshore wind production and carbon capture and storage could bea and carbon capture and storage could be a growth industry for a place like hull. i think there are lots of opportunities that the government will provide for everyone living in the region to participate in future growth. with regard to standing behind workers, i think absolutely thatis behind workers, i think absolutely that is what the government has done. the furlough scheme that we talked about today in particular was perhaps the strongest expression of our values as a government and our

desire to stand behind those working in this country who, through no fault of their own, had faced a very difficult time over the last few months and that is why we put this extraordinary intervention into place to do exactly that, stand behind the workers of britain. on local infection rates, nathan, i think you are quite right, there will be variation in the amount of infection around different parts of the country and that is not unusual in infectious disease. during flu season which we have every winter, we see variation in the amount of fluid in different parts of the country as we go through the winter months. i think the second important point, though, is that our estimate of the r number across all regions in england, and parts of the uk, is below one which means that although there might be some difference in underlying infection rates, the trend is downwards in all parts of the country. on the point about whether there might need to beat

local lockdowns or restrictions, i think what we might find as we continue to see a reduction in the amount of infection is much more localised outbreaks and we know that we can see outbreaks in infectious diseases and this in one sense is no different and in areas where people are living closely together, dormitories for example, prisons might be another that we have talked about, and i think that will require local intervention, local public health intervention, to manage those localised outbreaks. in an earlier question, we talked about the joint security centre, the jvc and public health england and one of their key things will be to ensure that we detect those localised outbreaks very early and the appropriate interventions are made to ensure the transmission between individuals is broken and the outbreaks dissipate before they can become a wider problem within the community. brilliant, thank you and i think

that brings us to the end of the press co nfe re nce that brings us to the end of the press conference today. i knew professor stephen powis for all your time and thank you everyone at home for your time and thank you as ever for your time and thank you as ever for going through us together with this, all of us together through what is a very difficult time but as we are seeing, progressively week by week, things are improving and we are able to lift restrictions and bit by bit we can try and get our lives back to a new normal but it is a new normal that i believe it's filled with opportunity for all of us. we have duck today a little bit about the economy and as i said, today a new national collective effort begins, we can begin to reopen the economy and get our lives back to normal and it is something we will do altogether. thank you very much and have a good weekend. rishi sunak they are trying to bring a little bit of hope and optimism to the end of that daily briefing. let us the end of that daily briefing. let us have a recap the end of that daily briefing. let us have a recap some the end of that daily briefing. let us have a recap some of the announcements made by the chancellor at the briefing. first of all he

announced their daily death figures, announced their daily death figures, a further 324 people died with covid—19 in the past day. that takes the overall official uk death toll from the coronavirus to 38,106 to one. rishi sunak then went on to outline changes to the furlough scheme and he said employees will continue to get 80% of their wages up continue to get 80% of their wages up to £2500 forjune and july and from august employers will have to pay national insurance and pension contributions and then 10% of pay from september, rising to 20% in october. the chancellor said he intends to end the furlough scheme in its current form in october. rishi sunak also announced that workers will be allowed to return to workers will be allowed to return to work part—time from july, still under the furlough scheme. and the self—employed will be eligible for a final grant self—employed will be eligible for a finalgrant in self—employed will be eligible for a final grant in august covering 70% of the applica nt‘s final grant in august covering 70% of the applicant's trading profits

for the month. i am joined now by our business correspondent katie austen. some of this announcement had been expected but i suppose some of the detail is interesting, including the tapering of the contributions that employers will be expected to make. that is right. it is impossible to overstate the significance of this game when it comes to minimising the immediate damage the pandemic has wrought on the economy. this is a scheme where employees can basically be put on leave while there is no work for them to do and the government picks up them to do and the government picks up 80% of their wages up to £2500 a month. so far, 8.4 million workers have been furloughed under the scheme and we had heard it would be extended to october and yesterday the chancellor outstanding —— michael outlined how the scheme a change in the coming months as it nears its end and he said this would be the final stage of the eight month scheme. the first change that

will to men will be from july and there has been a lot of demand from businesses to be able to bring back employees part—time businesses to be able to bring back employees pa rt—time and businesses to be able to bring back employees part—time and that is because it does not suit all businesses to just say you are furloughed or not. they might want to do some gradual preparations or gradual reopening and that flexibility, being able to bring back workers part—time on the furlough scheme, while they are not working, will be welcomed from july but it is from august that the change to how much business actually contributes to the wage of the furloughed employees comes in. initially in august, they will be paying national insurance contributions and pension contributions and pension contributions and pension contributions and it is not until september that they will actually pay part of the wages of the employees then received. just to recap, the way the scheme works is that employers pay the wages and any claim back that money from the government. so, yes, from september it will be 10% of that total 80% that will be paid by employers and

the government will pick up 70% of the government will pick up 70% of the bill and in october it will be 20% paid by firms and the government will then pick up 60%. it is gradual tapering of of the amount the taxpayer is putting interface. this has been welcomed by business groups although the only criticisms really are that some industries are going to perhaps face much longer return to perhaps face much longer return to normal, a return to business as normal and this game is not going to differentiate, it will be one furlough scheme for everybody going forward. we also heard about an extension to the current self—employment income support scheme. there has been a lot of nerves from self—employment groups recently the scheme is coming to an end, it only covered three months or the equivalent of three months or the equivalent of three months of profit that self—employed people could claim back one lump sum

grant. there will be a second wave, if you like. they will be one final grant that can be claimed in august. the cap on that had been £7,500 for the initial three months. the august grant will be capped at over £6,000 in total. there is so much there because these schemes covered so manyjobs because these schemes covered so many jobs and so because these schemes covered so manyjobs and so many aspects of the economy. rishi sunak was also asked, wasn't he, what might happen if there is a second spike in infections? could this scheme, these various schemes be reheated and he appeared to say no. this will be something businesses are very nervous about, the prospect of any future waves or spikes because they are now starting to prepare for the future, they are putting measures in place they think will allow customers or workers to return, and it would be extremely disruptive of their business was interrupted in future and they didn't have a way of being able to carry on viably so

thatis being able to carry on viably so that is something there will be further questions on about, indeed. 0k, further questions on about, indeed. ok, thank you so much, our business correspondent, katy austin. we can speak again to our chief political correspondent vicki young. have we had any political reaction yet to what was said? what is interesting is that throughout this and not surprisingly given when you are announcing billions and billions of pounds in support there will be a lot of political parties on the side with all of this, and that has been the case. lots of people felt this was essential to keep these businesses alive and to help people with their day to day income. and that has continued, broadly, so labour have said they support all of this. they do have some concerns, though, let's listen to the shadow chancellor. obviously, i am pleased the chancellor has listened to the calls that have been made by labour and business and many others that we need to see the furlough scheme

becoming much more flexible, we need to understand what the future will be for the self—employed scheme as well. but i am concerned we still don't have a commitment to the only changing these schemes when we have a lifting of lockdown measures in different sectors. we have a one size fits all approach being applied both when it comes to the furlough scheme and the self—employed scheme so that everyone will be treated the same regardless of which sector they work in. i ask people to think through what it would be like for small family run pub if they had many workers on the furlough and they have to pay the same employer contribution as anybody else in the economy but they will not have any money coming in to do that. potentially, this could lead to quite a big job losses. so, be concerned there is for some sectors as the hospitality sector being one, they have no set date for when they are allowed to reopen so any contribution by them is going to be more difficult but i think it's worth taking a step back and looking at the sheer scale of the state

intervention with the government paying a huge amount of a lot of peoples wages and that support to go on for eight months which is perhaps a sign of how difficult this is going to be, how long it is going to going to be, how long it is going to go on for, and a kind of support the chancellor thinks people will need, and in the longer term the big debate about how it is paid for, the extra borrowing continues, whether there are tax rises, how you support public services, all of that for another day and in the shorter term people will be relieved that actually this tapering away isn't quite as dramatic as some felt, and i think some people will still feel this is pretty generous as we slowly try to unlock and get businesses back to where they were. try to unlock and get businesses back to where they werelj try to unlock and get businesses back to where they were. i wonder what you think about where this leaves the government politically, if you like, because the government's generosity has been recognised by a lot of people but this is a hard moment, isn't it? of

doling out the money and announcing it will support everybody at the beginning, in some ways that's the easy bit and the taking it away is a lot more problematic. there have been tensions within the conservative party and more broadly about how long this lockdown should go on forward some of those tory mps concerned that, of course, there is huge emphasis on the health side of this about dealing with the virus, about dealing with those who are sick, that the economic consequences we re sick, that the economic consequences were maybe being underplayed, and i think rishi sunak has said there will be a recession unlike one we've known before and he has admitted he won't be able to save every single job and business. what we don't know yet, we do know this has helped people in the shorter term but we don't know is what things will look like once things do start opening up and raising the question of what if the virus is going to come back again and! the virus is going to come back again and i think rishi sunak always not wanting to think about at this stage. ok, good to talk to you,

vicki young, our chief political correspondent. there were a lot of numbers in that press conference let's just listen once more to the chancellor laying out his latest plans. as we reopen the economy, there is broad consensus across the political and economic spectrum, the furlough scheme cannot continue indefinitely. two weeks ago, as i outlined the principles of my approach. the furlough scheme will remain open all the way until october. we will ask employers to start contributing as it also introduced flexible furloughing, and employees will see no change to their level of support. as promised, ican their level of support. as promised, i can provide more details today. i believe it is right in the final phase of this eight month scheme to ask employers to contribute alongside the taxpayer towards the wages of their staff. but i

understand, too, that businesses and employers have been through an incredibly difficult time. so, i have decided to ask employers to pay only a modest contribution, introduced slowly over the coming months. in june and july, introduced slowly over the coming months. injune and july, the scheme will continue as before, with no employer contribution at all. in august, the taxpayer contribution to peoples wages will stay at 80%. employers will only be asked to pay national insurance and employer pension contributions which, for the average claim account for just pension contributions which, for the average claim account forjust 5% of total employment costs. by september employers would have had the opportunity to make any necessary changes to their workplaces and business practices. only then, in the final two months of this eight month scheme will be ask employers to start paying towards peoples wages. in september taxpayers will

pay 70% of the furlough ground with employers contributing 10%. in october taxpayers will pay 60% and employers will contribute 20%. then, after eight months of this extraordinary intervention of the government stepping in to help pay peoples wages the scheme will close. the chancellor rishi sunak talking about the changes he will make to hisjob retention about the changes he will make to his job retention scheme. about the changes he will make to hisjob retention scheme. there was a lot of detail in what he announced this afternoon so let's go through some of it. first the chancellor announced the daily death figures. a further 324 people have died with covid—19 in the past day. which ta kes covid—19 in the past day. which takes the overall official uk death toll from the coronavirus to 38,161. rishi sunak went on to outline changes to the furlough scheme. he said employers would continue to get 80% of their wages up to £2500 for

june and july. from august employers will have to pay national insurance and pension contributions and then 10% pay from september rising to 20% in october. and the chancellor said he intends to end the furlough scheme in its current form in october. rishi sunak also announced workers will be eight allowed to return to work part—time from july is still under the furlough scheme. and the self—employed will be eligible for a final grant in august covering 70% of the applicants average monthly trading profits. now the uk government has been under pressure to extend the negotiating period because of the coronavirus pandemic. there will be a brexit summit next month when the uk and european union will have to decide whether or not to extend the current december deadline for the

negotiations. britain and the eu are said to be facing a tall order to getan said to be facing a tall order to get an agreement on fisheries, and brussels has no appetite to revise its mandate on the issue, said an adviser to the eu's chief trade negotiator michel barnier. this spring has broken all records for sunshine in the uk. we have enjoyed the sunniest period from march to may since records began in 1929. only nine sprinkler might have topped 500 hours of sunshine but this year by wednesday the uk had clocked up more than 573 hours. coming up next, it's the bbc news at six with clive myrie. but, first, it's time for a look at the weather and that's with louise lear. hello there. weather across the uk has been stuck on repeat mode recently so if you have outdoor plans and you want something warm and sunny that is exactly what i can offer you this weekend. on sunday it's the final day of may and it is looking likely

that this spring is going to be confirmed as the sunniest on record which is quite a dramatic turnaround given that the beginning of spring was pretty wet — do you remember that? for do you remember that? the rest of this afternoon, we've for the rest of this afternoon, we've got hardly a cloud in the sky, little bits of high cloud in the far west, some coastal fog little bits of high cloud in the far west, some coastalfog in little bits of high cloud in the far west, some coastal fog in the northern isles so disappointing but we could across north—west scotland see highest values of 28 degrees! a little bit cooler along the east coast because the breeze comes in off the chilly north sea, and through the night tonight, we keep the clear skies but temperatures fall away two relatively comfortable values were getting a good night's sleep, 7—11. we do it all again for the start of the weekend, saturday morning plenty of sunshine on offer. the area of high pressurejust shifting a little bit further east which means there will be a subtle change in wind direction though not as warm in western scotland. that said, mid 20s still. plenty of sunshine with a bit more of a breeze

through the afternoon, always a little bit cooler along the north sea coasts. further west, further inland, highest values on saturday of 25 degrees. whatever your thermometer is saying, it is worth bearing in mind uv levels this time of year are bearing in mind uv levels this time of yearare high bearing in mind uv levels this time of year are high pretty much across the country. sunday morning, a little bit of coastal mist and although cloud along the north sea disappearing and again tribe up and settled and with lighter winds on sunday we could see highest values of 27 degrees. moving into next week, i want to point out to you this weather front could introduce tuesday into wednesday summer showers into the north—west but something else is interesting, behind that weather front as it sinks south, the wind direction will change and we see a northerly taking over, dragging cooler air across the country. so, it'll stay predominantly dry with a slim chance of some showers but look at the

difference with the feel of the weather next week. take care!

the government says it'll continue to pay tens of billions of pounds to protect the jobs of furloughed workers affected by the coronavirus lockdown. the chancellor, rishi sunak, says businesses will only have to start paying a contribution from august. i believe it is right in the final phase of this eight—month scheme to ask employers to contribute — alongside the taxpayer — towards the wages of their staff. support for the 2.5 million self employed receiving grants will continue through the summer. also on the programme: at last, reunions in scotland for the first time in weeks, as the lockdown eases. we'll explain what you can and can't do across the nation this weekend.