Support needed for self-employed, says Mayor
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street says a support package for self-employed workers needs to be set out by the Government.
Mr Street has added his voice to growing calls for clarity on how the self-employed will be aided during the coronavirus outbreak which has resulted in many losing their income.
There is growing speculation the Government will announce measures tomorrow offering the self-employed 80 per cent of their income amid growing pressure.
Currently they are only being offered the equivalent of statutory sick pay.
The Mayor has suggested financial support could take the form of rebates or grants based off past tax returns, allowing the self-employed to claim a proportion of their previous earnings – similar to the guarantee given to those workers employed by businesses.
He said: “The Government and the Chancellor have acted incredibly quickly and decisively to support businesses during these challenging times, and I know companies across the region are now able to stay afloat and keep workers in jobs thanks to these measures. Government officials have evidently taken on board the feedback from the region’s weekly economic contingency group.
“However there is another area that needs addressing, and that is the financial support that can be given to the self-employed.
"We have hundreds of thousands of self-employed workers across the West Midlands - such as tradespeople, musicians, and performers - who do fantastic work and are a cornerstone of our economy.
"But currently they are only being offered the equivalent of statutory sick pay through Universal Credit, compared to workers employed by businesses having 80 per cent of their salary guaranteed.
“I know Government will want to move swiftly to address this, and I am personally pressing the case to ministers. The Chancellor talked last week about needing to use existing systems to make this work, so my suggestion would be to offer tax rebates or grants to the self-employed based off previous tax returns."
