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Written Evidence – Economic Impact of Coronavirus Individual Submissions – Batch 3 – Reported by the Committee on 15 April 2020

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Written Evidence – Economic Impact of Coronavirus Individual Submissions – Batch 3 – Reported by the Committee on 15 April 2020 Written Evidence – Economic impact of coronavirus Individual submissions – Batch 3 – reported by the Committee on 15 April 2020 Nicola Smith I write as a self employed small business owner. Firstly I’d like to say the package you’ve put together for employees is amazing. Now could you please treat the self employed equally? I’m a tattooist and own a shop providing work for two other self employed people. Whilst I’m (hopefully) eligible for the £10000 SBRR grant, which will help to pay my businesses bills for a while, this doesn’t help my personal finance situation. I’m a single mother with two university students heading home and my youngest who’s effectively just finished year 11. I have rent to pay (no mortgage payment holiday for me), and bills to pay and a lot of food needed to feed four adults for the foreseeable future. All at a time when my income has totally dried up. Whilst I took the difficult decision to close my shop from this week, I’d ask you to consider the fact that many self employed people such as myself work in very close proximity to their customers. Hairdressers, barbers, nail technicians etc etc. If we were as fully supported as the employed population we wouldn’t be in the invidious position of choosing between protecting public health and feeding our children. Could you use our tax returns to see how much we made last year, less our tax liability, and then pay us 80% of that up to £2500 per month? Wouldn’t that be the easiest and fairest way to deal with this? Also, I realise this is going off topic but something else needs to be done for those of us renting our homes. I don’t think my land lady has a mortgage on the property I’m living in, so can’t ask for a mortgage payment holiday. I’m not going to be able to pay my rent in two days’ time and that’s going to leave her short of income. Jason Hunt It’s very tough for all of us right now, self-employed individuals like myself are no different – we’re people with liabilities, dependents and no job security at all. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme excludes many workers, including the self-employed, gig economy workers and, potentially, those on zero-hour contracts. There are 6 million self-employed workers in the UK, many of whom are already experiencing the economic impact of the outbreak. This can be devastating, particularly in cases where all or significant streams of income have immediately stopped. Many workers are putting the health of others and the NHS first by self-isolating. Some will have become ill and many will have reduced hours due to increased childcare responsibilities now that the schools have closed. Even in cases where remote work is the norm, lots of work is being cancelled or postponed as clients are uncertain about the future. The discrepancy between the support for employees and other workers is significant and arbitrary: all workers should be treated equally. Norway is compensating self-employed people who have lost work with 80% of their average income over the last 3 years. A similar system should be implemented here for workers not covered by the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Universal Credit excludes many workers – including those with tax bills that exceed the savings threshold – so support should be made available through another mechanism. And many self- employed people such as myself have to save money for HMRC tax payments (Self-Assessment and VAT) so this has to be ignored. The deferral of Payments On Account is of no comfort either. This is a loan to and from the self- employed, payable in full six months later. In many cases, the deferred figure won’t be enough to sustain a business. Even in cases where it is, saving that amount again in such a short period of time is unfeasible given the likely climate for the next few months. Given the scale and gravity of the situation for many workers, it’s imperative that immediate action is taken: not in a week or a month, but today. Please consider supporting all workers by ensuring the government reviews this policy as soon as possible to help self-employed people across the country who are struggling. Bob Shipsey Hi, I should think there are a great number of freelance workers including myself who now have little or no work / income for the foreseeable future. Some will manage and some will really struggle and likely fall by the wayside. How this can be resolved is no easy question. It is my opinion that no single person should be treated any differently from another in these extraordinary times. How about everyone - employed and freelance and out of work being put on a basic payment? As a freelance worker I find 80% quite a high amount to be paying people as compared to 0% for myself. How about not only freezing mortgages (As has been done) but also freezing rent payments. These are not 'normal' times in any respect and every single person should be treated the same. Good luck and keep up the good work. Oliver Hayhurst I am writing to express my worry at the fact that I am completely unable to work for the foreseeable future and my income is now zero. I am a self-employed freelance musician and have been comfortably making a living this way since leaving college 20 years ago. All my work has been cancelled for at least the next few months with no offer of compensation. This seems grossly unfair when the employed are being supported by government intervention. I have to pay a mortgage and child support every month and the offer of a mortgage holiday is not going to prevent my savings being rapidly eaten away. Universal credit is a paltry amount and is not simple to apply for. I am hearing reports it is currently impossible to get an interview. Surely it is possible and would be fair to give support to the self-employed based on the last few years tax returns? Wayne Broom You've asked for evidence to see if the Treasury are doing enough. I think what they have proposed is amazing for the majority of the workforce. However, I'm a Supply teacher, my Agency are unsure whether they can claim the 80% for their Agency Workers, can the government be more clear on this. Also it has been mentioned that if we are that we can only claim based on the month February. As day to day Supply we do not get offered work every day, although we are available every day. So February was a very lead month for myself and I assume many others, depending on where you work in the country. Also in February we had a half term where schools were closed. I think it would be best based on the average month over the last 12 months based on your upcoming P60. My Agency do not think I will get any work until this crisis is over, potentially no work until September. Supply teachers are a vital part of support for the teaching profession, providing qualified teachers to cover for teachers who are ill or out for training. If we are not getting any support over the coming months I can see many Supply teachers seeking other forms of work, potentially permanently. This would leave a shortage of Supply when the profession would need it most. Janine Stejskal I’m writing to inform you of the impact the Coronavirus is having on my childminding business. As a self-employed childminder I have been instructed to close my doors and only open for key workers, I have no children that qualify. I offer wrap-around care and therefore have no children in receipt of funding. I have gone from earning £280 per week to earning £0. I have already had 10 months off work due to having surgeries for ovarian cancer and kidney cancer. Luckily surgery has cured me. Whilst recuperating I have been in receipt of Employment and Sickness Allowance at £73.10 per week. I returned to work on 2nd March, what a welcome back! I’m worried that my bills and mortgage won’t be paid, if I was employed and forced not to work, say at McDonald’s or in a bar, I would be able to claim 80% of my wages. What can I claim as a self- employed childminder? Definitely not 80% of my earnings!!! Please look into the implications of forced closure on childminding settings, are we still going to have a business to reopen? Should I seek other employment which would result in 7 families looking for 9 places at alternative childcare? There are over 40,000 Childminders that provide an invaluable service for working families, a lot of us are reconsidering our careers at the moment. Debbie Francis I am a self employed registered childminder who has been forced to close as of today. I don’t qualify for Uc as partner is earning wage. This will not cover our outgoing bills let alone enable us to buy food. I earn under the tax threshold and have been building my business over the last two years so have had high expenditure. While the employed are having 80% of their wages I am left with no income or possibly £94 a week on which to live if they do allow us to claim us.
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