Financial support for self employed people during the covid-19 outbreak

That this House notes with concern research from the National Audit Office which has found that 2.9 million freelancers, contractors and newly self-employed are excluded from the Government's Self-Employment Income Support Scheme and analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which estimates that 38 per cent of individuals with self-employment income are ineligible for the support scheme; expresses disappointment that whilst the latest version of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme expands levels of financial support available, an expansion of eligibility for the scheme has not been forthcoming from the Government; believes that the continued suspension of the minimum income floor of Universal Credit is inadequate to meet the needs of all those locked out of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme; and calls on the Government to urgently expand the eligibility criteria of its provision for Self-Employment income support in order to prevent millions of people facing financial hardship.