Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing support to newly self-employed individuals who have been ineligible for covid-19 support to date.

The Government has looked carefully at ways to support groups such as the newly self-employed, and acknowledges that it has not been possible to support everyone as they might want. The practical issues that prevented the Government from being able to include the newly self-employed in 2019-20 in the original Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), namely that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will not have access to their self-assessment returns in order to verify their eligibility, still remain.

The Government continues to work closely with stakeholders to explore how it can support different groups. The Government has engaged with various proposals but has not yet found a way to overcome the fundamental issue of safeguarding against fraud and abuse.

However, newly self-employed individuals who are ineligible for SEISS may still be eligible for other elements of the support available. The Universal Credit standard allowance has been temporarily increased for 2020/21 and the Minimum Income Floor relaxed for the duration of the crisis, so that where self-employed claimants' earnings have fallen significantly, their Universal Credit award will have increased to reflect their lower earnings. In addition to this, they may also have access to other elements of the support package, including Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.