ISM comment on the increased support for self-employed workers
Maintaining a higher level of grant, expanding the eligibility criteria and developing a clear roadmap for the return of live performance are now essential
In a statement in the House of Commons today (2 November), Prime Minster Boris Johnson announced that for the month-long lockdown in November, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme SEISS) is increasing funding from 40% to 80% of average trading profits.
The SEISS is calculated over 3 months so this increases the total grant from 40% to 55% of trading profits for November to January and the maximum grant increases to £5,160.
The claims window for the SEISS grants will now be opening at the end of November rather than the middle of December as originally planned.
Chief Executive of the ISM, Deborah Annetts said:
‘We are pleased that the government is supporting the self-employed with 80% of trading profits for November, which increases the total grant to 55% of trading profits across the November to January period. Today’s announcement, coming so soon after previous changes to the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS), follows the ISM’s tireless campaigning on this issue. This is a further acknowledgement from the government that its initial approach was insufficient and that more had to be done to support the self-employed, including the thousands of musicians who cannot work while performance venues remain closed.
‘However, the increased rate of SEISS is only for the first month of the three-month grant period and three million self-employed workers continue to be excluded from receiving it at all. So maintaining a higher level of grant, expanding the eligibility criteria and developing a clear roadmap for the return of live performance are all now essential for preventing an exodus of highly skilled talent from our world-leading arts sector.’