Over 5,000 people in the Vale of Glamorgan remain on furlough, according to the latest provisional data from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Since the start of the pandemic, a cumulative total of 19,600 people have been on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.

As of 30 April 2021, the latest data available, 5,700 people are on furlough in the Vale. This is down from 7,000 as of the 30 March.

Of the ten Local Authorities in Wales included in the data, the Vale ranks fifth in order of how many workers were on furlough as of 30 April.

The sector with the highest number of people on furlough at this period is accommodation and food services, with 1,530 people.

This is followed by the wholesale and retail and motor vehicle repair sector, at 900.

A breakdown of other sectors as of 30 April is as follows:

Administrative and support services: 470

Arts, entertainment and recreation: 450

Professional and scientific and technical: 400

Manufacturing: 330

Transportation and storage: 320

Construction: 300

Information and communication, financial and insurance & real estate: 260

Health and social work: 250

Other service activities: 210

Education: 180

Public administration and defence; social security, households & other: 60

Agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining and quarrying, energy production and supply & water supply, sewerage and waste: 30

Last Friday, June 4, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said the Government was 'open-minded' to the idea of extended the furlough scheme beyond the current September end date following calls from Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to extend it 'for as long as it is needed'.