Western Morning News

Businesses urge Sunak to support freelancer­s

- MARTIN FREEMAN martin.freeman@reachplc.com

BUSINESSES leaders are urging the Chancellor for more help for the self-employed after a grant scheme was oversubscr­ibed within days.

The call is from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, which have a much higher proportion of people who are freelancer­s, or work for themselves as small-business owners.

The joint letter to Rishi Sunak from Cornwall Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Local Enterprise Partnershi­p, Islands Partnershi­p and tourism body Visit Cornwall says the area also has the highest proportion of small and micro enterprise­s in England.

“We are writing to thank you for the support that Government has put in place for businesses across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly (CIoS) and to request that Government expand the amount of funding available in our region through the 5% Discretion­ary Grant Scheme,” the business leaders say.

“We believe this is essential to provide much needed support to businesses which continue to feel the severe financial impact of the Covid19 pandemic.

“The Local Authoritie­s in our region have moved quickly to pay businesses through the initial Business Grant Scheme and to set up the 5% Discretion­ary Scheme. Cornwall Council and the Council of the Isles of Scilly launched their respective schemes on Friday 22 May and by this morning [May 27] had already received applicatio­ns that outstrippe­d the available funding. This clearly demonstrat­es the need for increased support and is partly a result of the region’s economic structure.

“More than 61,000 people are classed as self-employed in CIoS which accounts for 23% of those in employment, compared to 16% nationally. In addition, the CIoS LEP ranks highest out of the 38 LEPs for the proportion of its enterprise­s which are micro and small.

“Therefore, whilst we welcome the Government’s decision to include the self-employed in the discretion­ary scheme, it is inevitable that this will be accompanie­d by a surge in applicatio­ns from self-employed in need of urgent assistance.

“On behalf of businesses in CIoS we would urge you to expand the 5% Discretion­ary Scheme by making surplus funding already allocated to local authoritie­s available to support businesses in need.”

The business secretary, Alok Sharma, and local government secretary, Robert Jenrick, have been sent copies of the letter.

MP Derek Thomas, whose St Ives constituen­cy includes the Isles of Scilly, said: “I will certainly support this letter. I will always argue for more money coming into Cornwall.

“We know that the scheme has been oversubscr­ibed. People like chartered boatmen were not getting the help they needed. Any money coming into Cornwall will help the economy, which is very fragile at the moment.

“One-off grants are helpful but we also need longer-term support for coastal communitie­s going into the autumn and winter. So many businesses in Cornwall get their ‘fat’ during July and August and will need help throughout the year.”

Any money coming into Cornwall will help the economy, which is fragile at the moment

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