NEARLY £14million worth of grant aid has been handed over to help the self-employed in Crewe and Nantwich weather the pandemic.

The Self-Employed Income Support Scheme was launched by Chancellor Rishi Sunak after the furlough scheme had been introduced for payroll staff.

But many freelancers and others running their own business have been critical of the levels of support; some people have been unable to receive help if they have recently registered as self-employed or set up their own business.

The rules base the level of support on accounts that a self-employed person or business has filed with HMRC up to the 2018/19 tax year.

Crewe and Nantwich MP Kieran Mullan has revealed that 2,300 self-employed people have benefited from a second tranche of grants worth £5.4m issued under the scheme on top of the £8.4m previously handed out. That means the self-employed have received £2,348 on average in the second hand-outs.

"It is great to see that so many local people have benefited from the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme, which the government launched to ensure those who work for themselves were getting the support they needed during difficult times," said the MP.

"I know not everyone who is self-employed has been helped, but unfortunately we were not able to convince government there was a way to do that with people without previously submitted accounts to use as the reference."

The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme is being extended, potentially providing two more lump sum payments up to the end of April 2021 as part of a raft of measures announced by the Chancellor to stave off the threat tighter Covid-19 restrictions may have on the economy in the months ahead.

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With furlough support for business (Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme) due to finish at the end of next month the Job Support Scheme, running from November 1 until the end of April next, will see the government fund the hours employees do not work due to reduced demand.

VAT cuts for the tourism and hospitality sectors are also being extended and the deadline for a number of business loans is being extended until the end of November.