Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the recommendation of the Treasury Committee in its report Economic impact of coronavirus: Gaps in support that the Government undertake an urgent review to see how it can extend support to the newly self-employed who are unable to benefit from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

The Government has acknowledged the recommendations of the Treasury Select Committee report, the Economic impact of coronavirus: Gaps in Support.

The Committee states in its report that it recognises the challenges of offering support to those who need it while implementing the safeguards required to mitigate the very real risk of fraudulent claims for support.

The practical issues that prevented the Government from being able to include the newly self-employed in 2019-20 in the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) still remain. The latest year for which HMRC have tax returns for all self-employed individuals is 2018/19.