Council should lobby Rishi Sunak over 'excluded taxpayers' not getting COVID grants

Councillors Jonathan Harris and Catherine Lomax want the authority to write to Rishi Sunak, as well as Daventry MP Chris Heaton-Harris, to call on the government to ‘end the disparities in Government COVID-19 support packages that are currently excluding millions across the UK’.

They are calling for all individuals and businesses currently excluded from COVID grants to be given the support they ‘need and rightfully deserve’. They say this includes newly self-employed people; those earning less than 50 per cent income from self-employment; new starters; people who have been denied furlough or made redundant before March 19; those who are on maternity, parental or adoption leave; and directors who are paying PAYE annually or are paid in dividends.

The motion states: “The pandemic has created great hardship. Many organisations and employers have benefited from the Government’s furlough scheme. However, there are around three million tax paying individuals who have been excluded from any form of support, through no fault of their own.

“These are often entrepreneurial individuals who take risks to create and establish new businesses or individuals who have no option but to work in a freelance capacity, such as performers and many others associated with our vital arts sector.

“It has been said that the risk of funding such individuals is too great and would provide immeasurable risk to the UK taxpayer. In the context of millions of pounds being spent on government contracts, seemingly without due process or appropriate procurement arrangements (according to the National Audit Office spending review) it is a patently flawed assumption. This group forms the backbone of business tax contributors and also makes a significant contribution to our local economy.”

The motion will be discussed at Daventry District Council’s full council meeting on December 3. It will require the support of the ruling Conservative party if it is to be passed however.