Self-employment support extended

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Grants extended: Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced an extension to the one-off payments available to the self-employed

The Government has extended existing support for self-employed individuals, with a one-off sum of up to £1,875 available.

The Self Employment Income Support Scheme Grant (SEISS) will be extended with another taxable grant for those who can still operate but have experienced reduced demand amid the pandemic.

This sum will cover three months’ worth of profits for the period from November to the end of January next year, worth 20% of average monthly profits, up to a total of £1,875.

Support into spring

What’s more, there will be an extra grant for the self-employed for the period from February 2021 to the end of April. The Government said this may be adjusted to respond to changing circumstances.

Chancellor Sunak told MPs today: “Throughout this crisis, we have sought parity between employees and the self-employed providing more than £13 billion of support to over 2.6 million self-employed small businesses.”

Pub sector voices have said the measures of support announced today, including an extension of the reduced VAT rate and a jobs scheme, have not gone far enough.

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: “The announcement of further restrictions yesterday was a significant hammer blow that will inevitably depress trading. It was crucial that the Chancellor delivered support today that specifically targeted the hospitality sector which has been hit harder than any.”

The Morning Advertiser editor Ed Bedington has called on the Chancellor to “ride to the rescue once again” with further support.

He said: “An industry that was bending over backwards to ensure a safe and responsible, slow return to normality, complying with all that has been asked of it, has now once again had one arm tied behind its back, if not both, and is being left high and dry by the people that inflicted this unfair situation on it.”