“The percentage of musicians who predict they will not be protected by SEISS is far higher than the number presented by the Chancellor”. Photo credit: Shutterstock
Over the past week we’ve again been pressing MPs and Ministers to provide further assistance to musicians.
Meetings have been held with Leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Jo Stevens, and Shadow Culture Minister, Tracy Brabin. We’ve also sent letters to the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, and the Minister for Culture, Caroline Dinenage.
We are using the statistics from our latest survey to make our argument – many thanks to all members who took part.
The Chancellor initially claimed that the Self-employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) would work for 95% of the self-employed and that those not covered would be the richer self-employed.
Our survey of members has shown that this is categorically not the case for musicians. We’ve gathered some powerful statistics, showing the percentage of musicians who predict they will not be protected by SEISS is far higher than the number presented by the Chancellor.
We’ll be releasing the statistics from our online survey very soon.
Further government assistance is urgently required
Musicians who do not qualify for Government assistance currently fall into the following main categories:
- Self-employed less than 50%
- Self-employed for less than a year
- Limited company
- Yearly profits of over £50,000
We have therefore argued that we urgently need:
- Meaningful support for those who have been self-employed for less than a year.
- A way for musicians who are part self-employed (at less than 50% of their total annual income) to access support through the SEISS.
- The removal the £50,000 cap in the SEISS, as no equivalent cap exists for employed people, and pay people up to the cap.
- Support for self-employed people who run as limited companies and pay themselves in dividends through the SEISS.
- A speeding up of the Universal Credit application process up to cover the gap until support via the SEISS is made available in June, or an alternative method of covering the income gap.
We are also concerned that members who have taken time out for maternity leave may be being disadvantaged, since maternity leave is not being disregarded from the income average used to calculate what a person is entitled under the SEISS.
Funding for Live Music
The live music scene has been temporarily wiped out by social distancing and urgently needs support.
We’re urging the Government to consider some assistance funds for musicians and the creative industries along the lines of what has been set up in other European countries and indeed in other nations in the UK.
Some examples of these are:
- In Denmark the Government has launched a £10.95M package of direct aid for those who would otherwise be organising gatherings (festivals etc) of over 1,000 people.
- In Germany, the total package for the arts is worth £46.3B and the German government is also promising financial help to micro businesses of up to 5 employees of a grant of £8,330 rising to £13,890 for those with up to 10 employees.
- In France, a support fund for music professionals has been established with the National Music Centre administering individual grants from a total budget of £9.14M.
- As well as Denmark, the other Nordic countries have also announced that they will be setting up specific grant funds for the culture sector. £22.59M in Norway, £37.4M in Sweden and a more modest £1.34M in Finland. Norway has also announced that there will be a VAT and employer’s contributions holiday in April and May.
Take action for musicians
Write to your MP now. Personal stories really do help – they show MPs the truth of the situation and give them case studies to show Government that it is urgent.
You can already see the impact that you’ve made in calling on Government to provide financial relief for the self-employed. Now we need to make sure that all self-employed musicians are truly covered.
We have the full details on how to email your MP, including a template letter if you’re not sure how to get started.
Take action now