Greater Manchester mayor calls for more support for self-employed workers

In his letter the Mayor writes that this group of self-employed people are not currently supported by the emergency scheme implemented by the Treasury at the start of the coronavirus crisis.

He writes: "I welcome the steps that you have taken to ensure that the scheme is fair and is of benefit to many of the UK’s self-employed businesses and individuals through this challenging time.

"I believe, however, that the scheme leaves a significant gap for a specific group of the self-employed community who have set up their businesses since April 2019 and who do not qualify for the scheme.

"While I applaud your efforts and your ability to listen I believe that in the interests of fairness you do need to do more to help this group."

Mr Burnham, who was previously MP for Leigh, then continues by outlining what is described as a "simple, positive proposal" developed by colleagues at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

He suggests workers are given a short window to submit early tax returns for 2019-20 and then access to the scheme.

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