Instructor Support Update – 5th March

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Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) Eligibility
Earlier this week, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced further details regarding the Self Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) in his 2021 budget.

A fourth SEISS grant will be available to claim from April and will cover February, March and April, with those eligible able to claim 80% of their average monthly profits capped at £2,500.

The Chancellor also confirmed that there will be a fifth payment, which will be open to claims from late July and cover the period from May until July.

Importantly, the eligibility criteria for these grants has changed. Those unable to claim previous grants because they were newly self-employed and hadn’t filed a 2019/20 tax return can now claim the 4th and 5th grants because the Government is now allowing individuals to submit their 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 self-assessment tax returns as evidence of their earnings.

We are delighted that this long over-due support is now available for many of our instructors who previously did not qualify for SEISS grants.

Additional Restrictions Grants (ARG’s)
We would again like to emphasise to all our instructors that many local councils are offering grants to businesses forced to close by coronavirus restrictions. We are aware of individuals who have been able to claim both the SEISS and the ARG’s based on their local council’s eligibility criteria.

As eligibility is determined by the councils themselves, we have seen mixed success with applications from our driving instructors. The following locations are a list of councils that we are aware of which have paid out grants to driving instructors, ranging from £500 to £2000. There are almost certainly others that are not on this list:

  • Cardiff Council
  • Wealden District Council
  • Gedling Borough Council
  • Dacorum Borough Council
  • Warwick District Council
  • Nuneaton and Bedworth Council
  • Sheffield Council
  • Cambridge Council
  • Derbyshire Council
  • Wakefield Council
  • Worcester Council
  • Dudley Council
  • Bradford Council
  • Milton Keynes Council
  • Central Bedfordshire Council
  • Rossendale Council
  • Tameside Council

Please note, some councils who previously declined driving instructors as eligible businesses have now reversed their criteria. We would urge all our instructors, even if they were previously declined, to regularly check their council’s eligibility requirements.

Instructor Support
Should you need further guidance in addition to our communications to date, please contact the Instructor Support Team on 01765 643374 or via [email protected]. 

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a challenging time for everyone, we will continue to do all we can to support our instructors, staff and trainees.

From everyone at Bill Plant Driving School, stay safe.

Kind regards

Tom Hixon
Head of Instructor Support