Self-Employed Grants Top £3bn

More than one million self-employed people whose businesses have been negatively affected by coronavirus have applied for government grants with a total value exceeding £3bn...

The Self Employed Income Support Scheme is designed to support people in a similar manner to the scheme for furloughed employees. The grants are calculated from 80% of a business's average monthly profit over a period of up to three years.

The scheme is the biggest financial support package for the self-employed since lockdown started. It's administered by HMRC, which has been overseeing all loan schemes and the government's furlough payments.

The Self Employed Income Support Scheme was announced in March in a move by the government to provide support for self-employed and freelance workers overlooked in its earlier package of economic measures. However, those businesses started in April last year or after, will miss out, as will those who pay themselves just with dividends from a limited company.

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has announced that scheme is to be extended until the end of October.