UK launches self-employed grant scheme ahead of schedule

The UK has launched its self-employed grant scheme weeks earlier than it initially planned.

The Self Employed Income Support Scheme will allow self-employed workers to receive up to 7,500 pounds to cover March, April and May.

The money will be paid into the accounts of eligible applicants six days after applying.

The government announced the scheme in March following criticism that self-employed workers weren’t receiving the same level of support as employed workers.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced Monday that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme - which sees the government pay up to 80 percent of the salaries of furloughed employees, up to 2,500 pounds a month - would be extended for four months until October.

But from August, the government will ask firms to “share with the government the cost of paying salaries,” Sunak said.

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