Coronavirus Self Employed Income Support Scheme

That this House welcomes the Coronavirus Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) but is concerned that the details do not reflect the reality of self-employment in the UK; notes that the scheme calculates support based on three years of tax returns and therefore financially penalises those who have worked part time or not at all during that period because of caring responsibilities or maternity/paternity leave, as well as new starters and the recently self-employed; further notes that those who combine PAYE work with being self-employed are not eligible for a proportionate amount of support from the SEISS as well as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme; notes that neither profit invested back into the development of self-employed businesses or paid as dividends to directors of small limited companies is counted as income for the purposes of the SEISS and that this is leaving many self-employed people without access to a liveable income; and therefore urges the Government to review the details of the SEISS to correct these anomalies and ensure that the scheme reflects the needs of the more than five million self-employed people in the UK.