500,000 workers get no Rishi cash
Think-tank blasts self-employed help scheme
Rishi Sunak’s £13billion support scheme for the self- employed has left 500,000 without cash.
But 435,000 trousered the Chancellor’s money despite not losing income in the pandemic.
In April nearly one in three self- employed people had to stop work entirely and one in six are still unable to go back.
The average grant was £2500, twice as much as employees got on his job retention scheme.
But in a report out today the
Resolution Foundation says the money was “terribly targeted”.
Hannah Slaught er, an economic analyst at the foundat ion, sa i d : “The self- employed have been at the heart of the jobs crisis.
“But £ 1.3bil lion went to freelancers and businesses unaffected by the crisis, while others suffering catastrophic income losses missed out on support.”
The think- tank said strict eligibi l ity rules excluding those with higher incomes were to blame.
The claims process was also f lawed, as applicants did not have to prove financial loss.
Sunak, who unveiled Tier 2 support last week, should make sure payments more accurately reflect income falls, the foundation said.
It also wants more Universal Credit for the self- employed.
The report is a new blow for the Chancellor, after the National Audit Off ice revealed crooks siphoned off £ 4billion from his £53billion furlough scheme.
It comes after the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Gaps in Support said his new measures “will see millions continue to be excluded” after Sunak “callously” ignored its recommendations on payouts for four months.
Members wrote to the Chancellor in July asking him to make more people eligible.
Lib Dem MP Jamie Stone, who chairs the group, said: “He failed to learn from the mistakes during the last lockdown.”