Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the eligibility criteria for the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme prior to the application process opening for the third grant to allow people represented by #ExcludedUK to access that scheme.

The practical issues that prevented the Government from being able to include company owner-managers in the original Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, namely the inability of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to verify the source of their dividend income without introducing unacceptable levels of fraud risk, still remain. Similarly, the practical issues that prevented the Government from being able to include the newly self-employed in 2019-20 in the original SEISS, namely that HMRC will not have access to their self-assessment returns in order to verify their eligibility, still remain.

The Government has tried to target the SEISS at those who most need it through a maximum £50,000 threshold for average trading profits, and the requirement to earn 50 per cent or more of income from self-employment.

As previously announced, new eligibility criteria have been introduced for the third SEISS grant in order to ensure that it will only be available to self-employed traders who are facing reduced demand or those who are temporarily unable to trade due to COVID-19.

The Government has acknowledged that it has not been possible to support everyone as they might want. Those ineligible for the SEISS may still be eligible for other elements of the package of financial support available, including tax deferrals, rental support, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.