Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support his Department is providing to farmers in (a) Shropshire and (b) the UK that are ineligible for universal credit as a result of their level of savings.

Farmers in Shropshire and across the UK can benefit from the unprecedented package of measures announced by the Government to protect people and businesses against the current economic emergency. This includes £330 billion of government-backed and guaranteed loans through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Schemes, a Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to help self-employed individuals affected by the outbreak, and a Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help businesses keep millions of people in employment.

Universal Credit is not available to people with capital over £16,000, to ensure support is targeted at those who most need it. However, if self-employed claimants have savings in their account that are to be used for business purposes, those will not be counted towards their capital limit. Claimants should make this clear in their Universal Credit application and online journal, and may be asked to prove it.