‘Dismaying’ the self-employed are ‘excluded from government thinking again’

Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled on Friday, a targeted furlough scheme for the hospitality sector which are affected by infection hotspots.

Sunak told MPs in the House of Commons, that the government will pay employees who are unable to work and will pay them 67% of their salaries, up to £2,100 a month. Employees must be off work for a minimum of seven days to be eligible to claim.

IPSE responded to Sunak’s pledge to pay two-thirds of the wages of employees of businesses that are forced to close. The association said in response that it is “dismaying” to see the self-employed left out of government thinking again.

Andy Chamberlain, Director of Policy at IPSE said, “The new support for employees and businesses in local lockdowns is the right move, but it is dismaying to see the self-employed excluded yet again from the government’s thinking.

“Local lockdowns will affect many self-employed people just as much as employees, but as it stands, they have much, much less support available to them. If a self-employed hairdresser, plumber or contractor is caught in a local lockdown and unable to work, they are entitled to just 20% of their usual earnings.

“And there are over a million limited company directors and newly self-employed who are not even entitled to that.

“Government must not leave the self-employed to fall through the cracks of the ever-growing patchwork of local lockdowns across the UK. It must extend the amount and the parameters of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme to offer targeted support for the self-employed that matches these new measures.”