Asked by: Lizzi Collinge (Labour - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has undertaken an assessment of the potential merits of creating a sick pay scheme for self-employed people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is paid for by employers and there is no mechanism to include the self-employed in SSP.
It is important to highlight that many self-employed people already choose to take out some form of insurance or income protection to financially support them during periods of sickness absence.
The Government does have a wider safety net to ensure self-employed people are supported through the welfare system. Where an individual’s income is reduced while off work sick and they require further financial support, they may be able to claim Universal Credit and/or new style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), depending on their personal circumstances.
New Style ESA is an income-replacement benefit for people who are unable to work because of a health condition or disability and is not an in-work benefit. The aim of ESA is to provide support to individuals who are unable to work due to their disability or health condition, and to help them move towards employment if and when they are able to do so. Eligibility is dependent on satisfying the basic conditions of entitlement and contribution conditions.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been recovered by HM Revenue and Customs from furlough fraud to date.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC’s latest fully assured figures, covering up to the end of March 2025, have been published in the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025
Across the three HMRC-administered COVID-19 support schemes Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Eat Out to Help Out (EOHO), up to the end of March 2025, HMRC’s compliance effort on the COVID-19 schemes has prevented the payment of or recovered the overpayment of over £1.7 billion worth of grants, which is made up of £430 million prevented from being paid out and £1.3 billion recovered from overpayments.
Of the overall £1.3 billion recovered from overpayments, £920 million relates to CJRS.
HMRC identifies claims for compliance checks where the amount of the claim is out of step with other information. The risk that the claim is incorrect may be due to a range of reasons from an honest mistake through to fraud, therefore our data does not distinguish between error and fraud.
HMRC also introduced dedicated voluntary disclosure portals where claimants can voluntarily repay a COVID-19 support scheme grant, either because they have identified an overpayment of a grant or if they no longer require it. These repayment facilities have so far resulted in unprompted disclosures and voluntary repayments of over £1 billion for CJRS, £51 million for SEISS, and £2 million for EOHO.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (1) individuals and (2) organisations have been (a) investigated and (b) prosecuted for fraud in relation to COVID-19 funds since 2020.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC have interpreted ‘COVID-19 funds’ as the ‘HMRC administered COVID-19 support schemes’, including Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), Eat Out to Help Out (EOHO), the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) (previously the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy until 2023) administered Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), and Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS).
Although you have requested the data be broken down into individuals and organisations, HMRC do not hold the data at that level of detail. SEISS claims relate to individuals, whereas CJRS involves payroll, however, CJRS may also fall within the Income Tax (IT) or Corporation Tax (CT) regime. To add complexity, all charges for recovery of overpayments on the HMRC schemes are raised under IT legislation.
By the end of March 2025, HMRC had opened 53 criminal investigations into suspected fraud within the schemes and made a total of 99 arrests. There have been 4 convictions so far. Further ongoing criminal investigation activity has yet to be concluded within the criminal justice system and is subject to those timescales.
In this timeframe, HMRC also carried out more than 47,000 compliance checks using civil powers, where the amount claimed was out of step with other information. The risk that the claim was incorrect may have been due to a range of reasons from an honest mistake through to fraud.
DBT has worked with enforcement partners to tackle fraud linked to COVID-19 loan schemes. This includes the National Investigation Service (NATIS) and the Insolvency Service (INSS). To date, the Insolvency Service has obtained disqualifications against 2,595 directors, bankruptcy restrictions against 381 individuals and 82 successful criminal convictions in respect of COVID-19 financial support scheme misconduct. The Agency has also helped to secure more than £6 million in compensation related to COVID-19 financial support scheme abuse. Since 2020, NATIS has opened a total of 254 investigations covering both individuals and organisations. NATIS has secured 14 convictions up to November 2025.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to support people who were ineligible for government financial support measures during the Covid pandemic.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
Decisions on eligibility for Covid-19 financial support were taken by the previous government.
The previous Government provided support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The support was based on two principles: a) targeting support at those who needed it most; and b) guarding against error, fraud, and abuse, whilst reaching as many individuals as possible. Those ineligible for the schemes may have been eligible for other elements of financial support provided by the previous Government.
The current Government is working to improve living standards for everyone across the country. We are taking immediate action to support individuals, such as committing to no increases in employee National Insurance, Income Tax or VAT as we want to keep taxes low for working people. Driving growth is the Government’s number one mission, which will help individuals by boosting wages and putting more money in people’s pockets.
Asked by: Lizzi Collinge (Labour - Morecambe and Lunesdale)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what lessons her Department has learnt from the covid-19 pandemic support schemes to ensure that adequate protection is provided to for (a) directors of small limited companies and (b) shielding households.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
Decisions on eligibility for Covid-19 financial support were taken by the previous Government.
The previous Government decided to provide support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) based on two principles: a) targeting support at those who needed it most; and b) guarding against error, fraud and abuse, whilst reaching as many individuals as possible.
People may have been eligible for the other elements of the financial support provided by the Government, including the welfare system. This package included Restart Grants, the Recovery Loan scheme, business rates relief, and other business support schemes.
The previous Government evaluated the COVID-19 labour market support schemes. These were published in 2023 and can be found on Gov.uk. The Government will continue to learn lessons through formal evaluations and reports by independent bodies, such the National Audit Office, and through the work of the UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to support self-employed people who were excluded from financial support during the pandemic.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Decisions on eligibility for Covid-19 financial support were taken by the previous government. The previous Government decided to provide support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) based on two principles, a) targeting support at those who needed it most and b), guarding against error, fraud, and abuse, whilst reaching as many individuals as possible. Those ineligible for the schemes may have been eligible for other elements of financial support provided by the previous Government.
The current Government is working to improve living standards for everyone across the country. We are taking immediate action to support individuals, such as committing to no increases in employee National Insurance, Income Tax or VAT as we want to keep taxes low for working people. The Government has put growth as its number one mission, which will help individuals by boosting wages and putting more money in people’s pockets.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2025 to Question 22789 on Fraud: Coronavirus, what the total number of staff is who work on recovering overpayments on business support schemes in each year since 2020-21.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The COVID-19 business support schemes that were administered by HMRC were the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Eat Out to Help Out (EOHO).
Information on the resources deployed on these schemes can be found in the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23, where HMRC expected to deploy over 2,500 staff by September 2023 through the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce.
HMRC are committed to working with COVID-19 Counter Fraud Commissioner.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2025 to Question 22789 on Fraud: Coronavirus, how many (a) civil and (b) criminal compliance actions HMRC has taken on covid-related fraud since January 2020.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The COVID-19 business support schemes that were administered by HMRC were the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Eat Out to Help Out (EOHO).
HMRC remain committed to COVID-19 scheme compliance activity and will continue to prioritise and pursue the most serious cases of abuse.
As with HMRC’s approach to non-compliance in the tax system, HMRC address the majority of COVID-19 scheme error and fraud cases through cost-effective civil investigation procedures. Where appropriate, HMRC will conduct criminal investigations and seek criminal prosecutions if it is in the public interest, particularly where the behaviour is very serious or where a criminal prosecution will act as a strong deterrent.
HMRC are committed to working with the COVID-19 Counter Fraud commissioner.
Asked by: Phil Brickell (Labour - Bolton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HM Revenue and Customs staff time and resource was dedicated to recovering funds from covid-19 (a) business relief and (b) procurement-related fraud in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HMRC remain committed to COVID-19 scheme compliance activity and will continue to prioritise and pursue the most serious cases of abuse.
Part (a):
The main COVID-19 business support schemes that were administered by HMRC were the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Eat Out to Help Out (EOHO). We have interpreted your request for details relating to business relief to relate to these grant schemes.
From tax year 2020/21 to date, HMRC estimate that c.3,500 staff have been deployed to recover overpayments on the COVID-19 business support schemes administered by HMRC (where one staff member is the equivalent of one full time staff member for one year).
Part (b):
HMRC has no functions in relation to the procurement processes and contracts awarded in relation to key healthcare related equipment and supplies. As such, HMRC would not generally investigate whether fraud has been committed in relation to the actual procurement or execution of such contracts, except where there was an ongoing investigation undertaken by other Law Enforcement Agencies concerning offences relating to one or more of HMRC’s functions, such as tax offences.
HMRC’s only involvement in stand-alone fraud investigations that might arise from procurement would be if there were issues in relation to one or more of HMRC’s functions, such as tax offences.
HMRC conducts thousands of civil and criminal compliance actions each year. A number of these relate to tax offences suspected of having been committed by those seeking and fulfilling government contracts relating to the procurement and onward supply of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and similar products during the COVID-19 pandemic. This work is undertaken across various teams within HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional support is available for self-employed workers in receipt of Universal Credit that experience a short-term fall in their earnings.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Customers who are new to gainful self-employment are eligible for a 12-month 'start-up period’, during which the Minimum Income Floor does not apply. This means that if a customer experiences a drop in their earnings, their Universal Credit award will increase. This gives customers the opportunity to adjust to the characteristics of the sector in which they work, such as seasonal or fluctuating earnings patterns.
Where a customer reports a loss from their self-employment, the value of the loss is considered when assessing earnings in future assessment periods. If the sum of any unused losses exceeds the amount of earnings in the subsequent monthly assessment period, the remaining value of the loss is carried forward to be offset against future earnings, until the loss is used up or the customer ceases self-employment. This may result in a customer receiving a higher Universal Credit award in the future.
Work Coaches can signpost customers in the start-up period to national and local support where available, such as business advice, mentoring or training. This may also include connecting self-employed customers with other government support including:
Local Growth Hubs in England, Business Wales and Find Business Support and Business Gateway in Scotland, which offer support, advice and guidance to new and existing businesses.
If a self-employed customer has earnings below £2,600 (or £3,600 if in a couple) in the six months prior to an application, they may be eligible for a budgeting advance to help finance intermittent/ unforeseen expenses or expenses. This ensures low-income families that have an emergency financial need and do not have access to adequate savings or affordable loans can access funding to meet the emergency.