Petition · past parliament
Extend Self-employment Income Support Scheme eligibility to cover new businesses
Rejected
21 signatures
What the petition asks
Find a way to extend the Self-employment Income Support Scheme to cover business started in the last year. A potential solution could be to offer a loan that is repayable next year. If the claimant has filed a tax return in the meantime for self employment and is eligible, the loan is void.
The support available for new businesses in these times isn't enough, especially when a household isn't entitled to other benefits (i.e. Universal Credit). Many households that fit into this category will be struggling severely. Loans are available but the nature of many new businesses means that revenue and profit can be expected to be low and repaying loans isn't feasible. It's fantastic that the government is covering the 80% wage for older businesses but newer businesses need more help.
Why it was rejected
There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.
Provide COVID19 income support for the newly self-employed, without HMRC records
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
Timeline
| 31 Mar 2020 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 3 Apr 2020 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
21
Status
Rejected
Rejected
3 Apr 2020
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.