Rishi Sunak rejects claims people were excluded from government support schemes

At Treasury Questions in Parliament earlier this week Newport East MP Jessica Morden pressed the chancellor on what he would do for constituents who have fallen through gaps of government support schemes.

Earlier this year the Excluded UK group was set up to represent those who are not eligible for support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme or Job Retention Scheme.

This includes self-employed people who get less than half their income from self-employment; people who started new jobs after March 19; and self-employed people who had been on parental leave during the previous three years and will have their income reduced as a result.

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Speaking in Parliament, Ms Morden asked: "Given that the chancellor has accepted that the job retention scheme and the self-employed income support scheme need to be in place until March, does he think it is right that those who have fallen through the gaps in those schemes - highlighted by the Federation of Small Businesses - will have been without support for an entire year by then?

"Why have ministers not had the decency to meet groups such as Excluded UK?"

The chancellor responded by saying: "(Financial secretary Jesse Norman) is meeting that group and other members, and I and other members of my team have met various representatives of the self-employed and other employed people who would like to make representations.

"It is fair to say that I do not agree with the idea that those people have been excluded: the government have provided support in many different ways to many people in different circumstances.

"We remain committed to that support throughout this crisis."

Speaking after her question, Jessica Morden said: "The chancellor said he disagreed with the idea they were excluded, despite the fact that by next March many people will have gone without support for a year, as has been highlighted by Excluded UK, the Federation of Small Businesses and the shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds.

"The covernment have repeatedly said that it is too difficult to provide support to this group, but they have now had more than eight months to sort it out and not done so."