More than two million self-employed people whose businesses are affected by coronavirus have applied for government grants and should receive the cash within six working days, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said.
The value of the claims made so far is £6bn.
The Government’s Self Employed Income Support Scheme is designed to support people in a similar way to the scheme for furloughed employees, with grants set at 80 percent of monthly profit to a maximum of £7500 over three months.
People who are only recently self-employed are not eligible for the scheme, as they need to be able to show tax returns.