WEAVER Vale MP Mike Amesbury has led calls by a group of North West Labour MPs to call for Capita to top up the wages of furloughed employees.

He has written a letter to the outsourcing giant's chief executive on behalf of the Communication Workers Union to back their calls for Capita to provide an additional 20 per cent on top of the 80 per cent provided by the government's furlough scheme.

The letter was also co-signed by 18 MPs from across the region, include Halton MP Derek Twigg.

The firm has a big office in Preston Brook

The letter read: "During this uncertain and unprecedented period, the pressure on businesses to stay afloat are undoubtedly enormous, however the pressure is magnified for those who have been furloughed and now find themselves financially compromised for an unknown period of time."

Mike added: "Capita staff are only just starting to be paid the real living wage, so receiving furlough wages will leave many of them suffering significant hardship.

"The company should set an example and do the right thing by its hard-working and dedicated staff."

A Capita spokesperson said: “We have rapidly adapted our business to support the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We have been doing all we can to avoid furloughing Capita employees and ensure that as many as possible can continue to work. We have also redeployed many staff to new roles supporting the country’s essential services; where this hasn’t been possible we have furloughed staff using the government’s job retention scheme.”