MORE than 350 council staff have been placed on the Government’s furlough scheme designed to support jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s head of human resources Ceri Davies took the decision to make an application to furlough eligible staff, as specified by the Welsh Government’s job retention scheme, on June 4.

The eligible staff are classed as “employed by means of income generation” a published record of the decision sates.

A Pembrokeshire County Council spokesman said that 371 staff have been put on furlough, the majority of whom work in school catering and leisure services.

The head of human resource’s decision was taken in consultation with the director of resources Jon Haswell and council leader Cllr David Simpson.

The Welsh Government application will be backdated to March 20, with “subsequent backdated applications will be made in respect of April through to October 2020 in line with the revised criteria within the scheme.”

The decision report adds that the reason for the decision was: “Due to the impacts of Covid 19 and in light of Welsh Government guidance to Local Authorities on options to furlough eligible staff, a decision was taken at Gold Command that such applications should be processed accordingly.”