Bill Esterson Shadow Minister (International Trade)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial support is available for self-employed taxi drivers who have been told by NHS England to self-isolate due to underlying health reasons and who have been told that they do not qualify for bounce back loans because they do not have business bank accounts.

John Glen Minister of State (Treasury) (City), The Economic Secretary to the Treasury

The government is committed to supporting self-employed individuals through any period in which they have to self-isolate. Self-employed individuals may be eligible for “new style” Contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) if they are incapable of work due to Covid-19, including those who are required to self-isolate according to Government guidance. We have made it easier for people to claim new style ESA by removing the seven-day waiting period which means people can get support from day one. If they are on a low-income, they may also be entitled to a £500 self-isolation payment.

Individuals who are self-isolating can also access the wider support which the government has made available to self-employed people. In addition to bounce back loans, self-employed individuals may be eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) which remains open for applications and has recently been extended. The SEISS Grant Extension will last for 6 months, from November 2020 to April 2021.

This support for the self-employed is in addition to a comprehensive welfare offer: according to OBR estimates, the government has injected a further £9.3bn into the welfare system to support individuals who are unable to work or on a low income, including the self-employed. For those on low incomes, the government has relaxed the UC minimum income floor for all self-employed claimants.

The Government launched Bounce Back Loans on 4th May 2020 to ensure that the smallest businesses can access loans of up to £50,000 in a matter of days. However, decisions regarding which products, like business bank accounts, to offer remain at the discretion of lenders, and the Government does not intervene in these decisions.

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RMT Press Office:

TAXI UNION RMT today demanded national, regional and local support for the taxi trade as the exclusion of drivers from financial support packages leaves them facing bankruptcy. ‎

With the second wave of COVID - 19 now battering the whole of Britain, and with localised lockdowns in place, the taxi trade is currently in crisis with hard working taxi drivers facing financial ruin due to the decimation of regular as well as passing trade.

For many drivers this is further compounded by the huge financial burdens associated with purchasing the new generation of electric vehicles as part of programmes across the country to introduce environmentally friendly green taxis.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said

“The taxi trade is an essential part of Britain’s transport network and has played a key role in ensuring essential workers could get to their workplaces throughout the lockdown earlier this year as well as transporting sick and elderly citizens to essential medical appointments and getting people from the supermarket to their homes with food and other essential household items.

“It’s now time the Government’s across the four nations, as well as local councils, stepped in with financial assistance to ensure taxi drivers who are clearly key workers during this unprecedented pandemic avoid penury and suffering through no fault of their own.”

https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-demands-government-and-local-council-support-for-covid/

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At an online meeting of Falkirk Council’s executive on Tuesday, members agreed to put temporary measures in place in order to assist in the recruitment of more taxi drivers.

Members unanimously backed the policy and development panel recommendation to temporarily change policy to allow new Private Hire Car Driver applicants not to have to pass the Knowledge Test prior to the granting of their licence – with the condition they must pass the knowledge test within 12 months of the licence being granted.

They also agreed to temporarily waiving the application fee for a temporary private hire car driver licence where a full application has been simultaneously submitted.

Members heard many drivers had not returned to the trade following the coronavirus lockdown and there was currently a shortfall of around 55 taxis per day, which was having an adverse effect on school runs.

Councillor Robert Bissett said: “There are a lot of drivers who did not come back to the trade after lockdown and there is now a dearth of drivers. This is a temporary measure and it will allow people very quickly to become taxi drivers.”

Councillor Nigel Harris asked for reassurance the drivers would definitely sit their knowledge test in the near future.

https://www.falkirkherald.co.uk/news/people/emergency-measures-falkirk-faces-post-lockdown-shortage-taxi-drivers-3003359