Mr Patsy McGlone (Mid Ulster): To ask the Minister for the Economy what provision will be made for self employed people currently unable to avail of any other government income support schemes. [Priority Written]
Minister for the Economy: The Newly Self-Employed Support Scheme opened for applications on 3 December 2020 and will provide £10 million in financial support to newly self-employed individuals (sole traders and those in partnerships) whose business is adversely impacted by Covid and who have not been able to access support from the UK government’s Self-Employed Income Support Scheme.
A one-off taxable grant of £3,500 will be provided. This will enable support to be provided to approximately 2,900 newly self-employed individuals.
Further eligibility details and an eligibility tracker are available at
https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/newly-self-employed-support-scheme
Additionally, the Executive has agreed a funding allocation of £20million to support sole limited company directors who have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic but were not eligible for the UK Government’s Self Employed Income Support Scheme.
My Department continues to work on bringing forward further details of this scheme as a matter of a priority and these will be made available on the NI Business Info website in due course.
ENDS
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