Key points
- The self-employment income support scheme (SEISS) has provided £18.9bn of support.
- A lack of data and fraud concerns prevented help for the newly self employed.
- Unlike the coronavirus job retention scheme (CJRS) higher earners have been excluded from support under the SEISS.
- Some self-employed individuals who took time off to care for children received a lower than expected grant.
- Company directors did not qualify for the SEISS and may not have been entitled to CJRS support.
The self-employment income support scheme (SEISS) has provided support to many self-employed individuals since it was first launched at the start of the Covid-19 crisis in March 2020. At 31 December 2020 more than 6.8 million such grants had been claimed totalling £18.9bn of support. However the SEISS eligibility criteria mean that not everyone who is self-employed has been able to qualify for a grant and there...