It is clear the COVID crisis is far from over, and neither is the economic one that landed with it. The Office for National Statistics said 156,000 people were made redundant in the three months to July -the steepest quarterly rise since 2009. The Government's furlough scheme provided vital support for employers to keep staff on the books while they considered how many they would be able to retain. But chancellor Rishi Sunak has - so far - rejected extending the intervention beyond the end of October. Meanwhile the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) estimates that around 650,000 face the prospect of losing jobs in the second half of this year. What role can local government play in helping support the sectors of their economies impacted most by the end of furloughing, and the people who will lose their jobs?
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