Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to support directors of small limited companies who are unable to trade on a financially viable basis during the (a) current national restrictions and (b) tier system of local covid alert level restriction from 2 December 2020.

The Government has acknowledged that it has not been possible to support everyone as they might want. The practical issues that prevented the Government from being able to include directors of limited companies in the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), namely the inability of HM Revenue and Customs to verify the source of their dividend income without introducing unacceptable levels of fraud risk, still remain. This issue prevents implementing an alternative scheme specifically for limited company directors.

Company directors who pay themselves a salary through PAYE are able to apply for CJRS support, subject to meeting the eligibility criteria of the scheme. Directors may also be eligible for other elements of the wider package of financial support available, including the Local Restrictions Support Grants, Government-backed loan schemes, tax deferrals, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and increased levels of Universal Credit to reflect lower earnings.