Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Margaret Greenwood and Lord Sharma

Tuesday 10th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on Government support for self-employed people during the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Alok Sharma)]

The Government have so far provided £13.2 billion of support to self-employed people through the self-employment income support scheme, and that support continues. The UK’s self-employment scheme is among the most generous internationally.

[Margaret Greenwood [V]]

According to the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed, the solo self-employed contributed an estimated £305 billion to the UK economy last year. So why have 1.6 million self-employed people been excluded from government support during the pandemic? What will the Minister do to address this failure of Government to recognise the huge contribution self-employed people make to the economy and to our communities?

[Alok Sharma]

As the hon. Lady will know, the self-employment scheme has been targeted at those who derive the majority of their income from self-employment. I hope she will welcome an extension of that scheme, which the Chancellor has announced. It will now last for a further six months, from November of this year to April 2021.