Today’s announcement by Rishi Sunak regarding the extension of the furlough scheme and the corresponding support for the self employed was welcomed today by Your Business Community (YBC). However the representative body for the self employed and small businesses went on to say that the measures don’t go far enough.
Ted Wigzell, spokesman for YBC, said ‘once again approximately 3 million people have been excluded from support’. He went on to say that ‘it is grossly unfair that the eligibility date for new employees is extended to include those on the payroll at the end of October whereas self employed claimants have to have been eligible for the previous claim.
‘Directors of small limited companies have also been overlooked again. Many have seen their businesses suffer terribly but they can’t furlough themselves if they are to have any hope of survival. These are viable businesses and need to be given government assistance urgently.’
‘He went on ‘for many running a business, self employed or Ltd, is a labour of love. Lots have sunk life savings into their ventures and are being treated with utter disregard. These traders either employ people already or are the employers of the future and need help too. Many have to meet significant overheads too and these are far more wide ranging than rent and business rates’
YBC feel there is a huge misunderstanding of how this sector operates which has led to what they feel amounts to discrimination within the economy. It’s clear we have a difficult winter ahead and feel that it surely isn’t acceptable to leave millions of people destitute.