Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing additional support to assist people who are self-employed and required to self-isolate.

Self-employed individuals who are required to self-isolate may be eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). The Government has announced that the third SEISS grant will cover the period from November 2020 to January 2021 and will be calculated at 80 per cent of average trading profits, capped at £7,500. The Government has published guidance on gov.uk on who can claim and sets out specific information about self-isolation and how this interacts with the eligibility criteria for the third grant.

Moreover, the SEISS continues to be just one element of a comprehensive package of support that may be available to self-employed individuals who have been required to self-isolate. Through the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme, self-employed individuals on low incomes who cannot work from home and who are asked to self-isolate may be eligible for a one-off payment of £500. 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 package, including Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays and other business support grants.