Relief for construction industry

With Chancellor Rishi Sunak finally unveiling a raft of measures for protection for the self-employed during the Covid-19 outbreak, following on from the announcement of business support, the industry has reacted with relief, with many of its members self-employed.

The measures announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak guarantee self-employed people who work as sole traders and earn up to £50,000 80% of their income. This will be based on their last tax return.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “Construction workers across the country will now be taking a collective sigh of relief knowing they will now be protected in the same way that employees will be if they lose work due to COVID-19. I am delighted that the Chancellor has heeded our calls to be generous with his offer to the self-employed, who make up almost 40% of those working in the construction industry. Building companies will now also be able to close sites to protect workers and public health without having to worry about the losses faced by self-employed workers on those sites. We now urge the Treasury and HMRC to ensure that all support packages are up and running as soon as physically possible.”

While Alex Smith, head of construction at law firm, Shakespeare Martineau, commented: “Finally, the Chancellor has done what the UK construction industry has been crying out for. Those with trading profits up to £50,000 a year will be able to apply for a grant of 80% of their average monthly profits, up to £2,500 a month, for three months up to the end of May (and paid in one lump sum in June). The monthly profits will be calculated using average monthly profits over the last three financial years.

“With self-employed workers forming the backbone of the construction sector, this news will come as a huge relief to all those who felt excluded from the Government’s generous support packages so far.

“Government announcements earlier this week stated that those who cannot do their jobs from home should continue to go to work, suggesting that on site construction work should continue, as long as social distancing guidelines were followed. Consequently, sites were to remain open, with social distance guidelines being followed.

“However, those in the construction industry have raised concerns that the economy was being prioritised over public health, with builders and other construction workers feeling unprotected and under pressure to continue working.

“Up until now, the lack of coherent advice from the Government has meant that firms have been left to take matters into their own hands and make business-critical decisions based on ambiguous criteria. However, difficulties caused by illness, self-isolation, childcare issues, and the inability to obtain building materials are still forcing more and more sites to close.

“Time will tell as to whether these measures are enough to support the construction industry and exactly who will qualify for such additional support during this unusual time. But for now, at least, many workers will be breathing a sigh of relief.”

IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed), has welcomed the government’s announcement today of a “historic lifeline” of financial support for the UK’s self-employed.

Derek Cribb, CEO of IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed) said: “We welcome the fact that the government has heeded our calls and actively worked with IPSE in designing a historic lifeline of financial aid for the self-employed.

“This will offer essential support to the many hard-working self-employed people across the country who are losing projects and contracts because of the Coronavirus outbreak.

“We understand this is an immense and complex undertaking, and urge the government to get this vital support to freelancers as soon as practically possible.

“This is an unprecedented package and a very welcome response to our campaign for freelancers and the self-employed.

“While this assistance is practical and wide-ranging it does not, however, cover all self-employed people. We will keep working to fill in these gaps.

“With our mission to support and promote the work of independent professionals and the self-employed, we will keep striving to stop those in need from being left behind.”

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