Demand for self-isolation payments is ‘significantly outstripping’ the funding available to English councils

TUC highlights that 7 in 10 applications to the scheme end up without payment, and that more than 1 in 4 councils have run out of or are close to running out of funding

The demand for self-isolation payments is 'significantly outstripping' the funding available to local councils in England, the TUC has warned today.

Introduced by the government in September 2020, the self-isolation payment scheme offers a one-off £500 payment for those who need to self-isolate because of Covid-19 but cannot work from home, with local authorities able to use discretionary grants to support those (including an estimated 7 out of every 8 workers) who do not meet the strict government-set criteria for the main scheme.

However, based on survey responses from 175 English local authorities, the TUC reports that, overall, 7 in 10 (70 per cent) applications to the scheme end up without payment -

• less than four-in-ten (37 per cent) of applications to the main self-isolation scheme get the grant; and
• for discretionary payments, just 1 in 5 (21 per cent) of applications are successful, with some councils reporting a success rate of 10 per cent or less.

Highlighting that some councils have had to close their discretionary schemes due to a lack of funding, and more than 1 in 4 councils (27 per cent) have run out of or are close to running out of funding, the TUC notes that even the head of the Test and Trace Service Dido Harding said last week that people are 'scared' to come forward for a test because of a lack of government financial support.

As a result, and with statutory sick pay worth less today in real terms than it was a decade ago and nearly two million workers (most of them women) not earning enough to qualify for it, the TUC repeats its calls for reform to plug the 'gaping hole' in the UK's approach to public health.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said today -

'No one should be forced to choose between doing the right thing and being plunged into hardship. The current system of patchy self-isolation payments and paltry sick pay just isn’t working.

... The government could fix the problem tomorrow by offering decent sick pay to those required to self-isolate. Ministers must stop sitting on their hands ...'

For more information, see Huge demand for self-isolation support sees councils facing big funding shortfall, TUC study reveals.