Over one million people still ‘locked out’ of Coronavirus support

An interim report published by the Treasury select committee has revealed that there are still more than a million people who are ineligible for any form of existing Coronavirus support from the government.

Schemes such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) have been rolled out to protect livelihoods, but the haste with which these schemes were introduced, whilst quite extraordinary, has left many people out in the cold when it comes to receiving support.

Affected groups include:

• Those newly in employment, who do not meet the government’s 31 March cut-off date;
• The newly self-employed, who do not meet the eligibility criteria for the SEISS;
• The self-employed with annual trading profits in excess of £50,000;
• Directors of limited companies who take a large part of their income in dividends;
• Freelancers and those on short-term contracts.

The committee has proposed solutions for how the government could provide support to these groups under the current schemes, such as extending the eligibility cut-off date for those newly in employment, or allowing freelancers to claim 80% of their average monthly salary through CJRS.

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