Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the start-up period under universal credit exempting self-employed people from the minimum income floor in their first year of trading.

The Minimum Income Floor is designed to encourage and incentivise self-employed Universal Credit claimants to increase their level of earnings and work their way out of welfare dependency. In order to give individuals a fair and proportionate amount of time to grow their business, the government has introduced a start-up period of up to twelve months (for those eligible) where the Minimum Income Floor will not be applied. Once an individual is deemed to be self-employed for the purposes of Universal Credit, they will not be expected to undertake ‘work search’ requirements so that they can concentrate on making a success of their business and increasing their earnings to lift them out of welfare dependency.

The government has no current plans to reform the Minimum Income Floor or to extend the start-up period for self-employed claimants in Universal Credit.