One million ‘locked out’ of coronavirus economic rescue schemes

It is very positive that MP’s on the Treasury Select Committee are now supporting the position the Chamber has been regularly articulating and making the case to government for practical financial support for those who are missing out.

More than a million people have fallen through the cracks in the government’s economic rescue package and require urgent support to see them through the pandemic, MPs have warned.

The Chancellor is facing calls to “completely fulfil” his promise to do “whatever it takes” to support the economy after MPs concluded that many newly employed staff, self-employed workers, company directors and freelancers have been “locked out” of assistance schemes.

The Treasury Select Committee estimated that many hundreds of thousands of people have already endured several months of financial hardship “through no fault of their own”.

They were also clear that officials “must find a way” to support directors of Limited companies who rely on dividends for their income and urged the government to provide freelancers and those on short-term contracts with assistance similar to the furlough scheme.

Let us trust that with this strong political support for action in this way that the government will without delay implement support schemes for those who have missed out.


Business Secretary Alok Sharma has chaired a series of economic recovery roundtables

As previously advised these roundtables bring together businesses, business representative organisations, regulators and leading academics. Discussions focused on the measures necessary to support economic recovery and ensure we have the right opportunities in place for growth across the country over the next 18 months and beyond. 

A reminder of the five themes:

• The future of industry: How to accelerate business innovation and leverage private sector investment in research and development
• Green recovery: How to capture economic growth opportunities from the shift to net zero carbon emissions
• Backing new businesses: How to make the UK the best place in the world to start and scale a business
• Increasing opportunity: How to level up economic performance across the UK, including through skills and apprenticeships
• The UK open for business: How to win and retain more high value investment for the UK.

You may be interested in the details of the participants and the questions covered which is available here.


Updated working safely guidance

Guidance to help employers, employees and the self-employed understand how to work safely during the coronavirus pandemic has now been updated to reflect industry feedback, guidance on Test & Trace, guidance on safer travel and to provide guidance on managing security risks.

The full guidance can be found here. 

The Cabinet Office has shared the following video to show how retailers are keeping customers and staff safe. 


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