Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to support freelance journalists ineligible for the Government's covid-19 support schemes.

The Government announced at Budget 2021 that the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will continue until September 2021, with a fourth and a final fifth grant. This provides certainty to business as the economy reopens and means the SEISS continues to be one of the most generous schemes for the self-employed in the world.

The Government has also announced a major improvement in access to the self-employed scheme. As the deadline for 2019-20 tax returns has now passed, HMRC will use these tax returns for the fourth and fifth grants, provided they were submitted by 2 March. This means more than 600,000 people, many of whom became self-employed in 2019-20, may now be able to claim the fourth and fifth grants, bringing the total number of people who could be eligible to 3.7 million.

The fourth SEISS grant, available to claim from late April, will be worth 80% of average trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of annual profits, and capped at £7,500 in total. The fifth and final SEISS grant, covering May to September will include a turnover test (similar to those in operation in other countries’ schemes) to ensure that the most generous support is targeted at those who need it the most. This will determine whether individuals can continue to receive a grant worth 80% of three months’ average trading profits, capped at £7,500 or a 30% grant, capped at £2,850. The final grant can be claimed from late July.

Those ineligible for the SEISS may still be eligible for other elements of the support available including tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.

The temporary £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance has been extended for six months, and the government has extended the suspension of the Minimum Income Floor for three months, to the end of July 2021, so that where self-employed claimants' earnings have fallen significantly, their Universal Credit award will have increased to reflect their lower earnings.

The Government has extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) until September 2021. The CJRS is available to individuals regardless of their employment contract or employment rights, as long as they meet the relevant eligibility criteria, making the scheme resilient to many different ways of working. This means freelancers and those on short term contracts could be eligible for the CJRS if they are on PAYE and meet the eligibility criteria. However, the decision to furlough staff is ultimately a choice for employers, which also means they will require an employer through which they can be furloughed.