Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what additional steps they are taking to provide financial support to industries with large proportions of freelancer workers.

This question was answered on 28th June 2021
The Government recognises the extreme disruption the necessary actions to combat Covid-19 are having on industries with large proportions of freelance workers.

Eligible businesses may already benefit from available employment schemes, government grant and loan schemes, and a reduction in VAT and business rates relief. At Budget, the Chancellor extended many of these schemes beyond the end of the Roadmap to accommodate even the most cautious view about the time it might take to exit restrictions.

For example, the Government announced at Budget that the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will continue until September, with a fourth and a final fifth grant. This provides certainty to self-employed individuals, including many freelancers, as the economy reopens. The design of the SEISS, including the eligibility requirement that an individual’s trading profits must be at least equal to their non-trading income, means it is targeted at those who are most reliant on their self-employment income.

However, the SEISS is just one element of an unprecedented package of support for the self-employed. As well as the business support outlined above, the temporary £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance was extended at Budget for six months, and the Government also 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 can continue to take into account their lower earnings.

At Budget, the Government also extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for a further five months from May until the end of September 2021. Furloughed workers in the UK will continue to receive more generous support than those in many other countries, as the CJRS ensures employees receive 80% of their current salary for hours not worked, up to £2500 per month, until the end of September. The CJRS has been available to all employers with a PAYE system and all employees on PAYE regardless of their employment contract. As such, freelancers and those on short term contracts could be eligible for the CJRS if they are on PAYE and meet the eligibility criteria.

In addition, the Culture Recovery Fund has already supported over 5000 organisations including theatres, music venues, comedy clubs and festivals, helping to enable performances to restart, protect jobs and create opportunities for freelancers.