Newly Self Employed Hardship Fund Update

Scottish Government confirms details of £34 million support package for recently self-employed people who are excluded from the UK’s support scheme.

The Scottish Government has confirmed details of the support it is providing to the recently self-employed who are excluded from the UK’s Self-employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

NB – a key feature of the UK’s SEISS is that it is available to those who were already in self-employment with a tax return for 2019, therefore excluding all those who became self-employed in the 2019/2020 tax year.

Confirming allocations from £100 million of new funding to support the self-employed and businesses during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in a statement to the Scottish Parliament yesterday, Economy Secretary Fiona Hyslop said that £34 million has been used to set up a ‘Newly Self-Employed Hardship Fund’, that will be open for applications from newly self-employed people facing hardship to the end of April 2020, and will start awarding grants of £2,000 in early May.

More information can be found here