The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has announced that more than two million self-employed people whose businesses have been affected by t5he coronavirus pandemic have applied for government grants, as he told the House of Commons that the value of the claims made so far is in excess of £6 billion.
And, as such, he said that the money would be reaching claimants within six working days.
The Self Employment Support Scheme is designed to support people in a similar way to the scheme for furloughed employees.
The grants are calculated as 80% of monthly profit, which is averaged out over a period of up to three years, and is capped at £7,000.
The money will be paid out in a single instalment covering three months whilst the temporary scheme to be put under review as it could be extended.
The process, being run by HNMRC (HM Revenue & Customs), was originally unveiled after it was highlighted that the government faced criticism for its failure to support self-employed and freelance workers.
In a statement, Chancellor Sunak described the scheme as “one of the most generous schemes in the world”.
