AN additional business support fund of £2,000 for newly self-employed individuals across West Dunbartonshire is now open for applications.

The Self-employed Hardship Fund will provide relief to eligible individuals who have not been able to access support through other schemes or have exhausted all other avenues for business support.

To be eligible, applicants must meet all of the following criteria: Claimants must have become self-employed on or after April 6, 2019 and did not submit a tax return including income from self-employment for 2018-19.

In addition, more than 50 per cent of individual income must be from self-employment with trading profits below £50,000 in financial year 2019-20.

And they must be able to provide evidence of active trading up to March 2020 and that they intend to continue trading in the tax year 2020-21 and have lost business due to coronavirus and experience personal financial hardship as a result.

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Businesses should also be ineligible for other Covid-19 related business support including the Business Interruption Loan Schemes, Corporate Finance Fund, Job Retention Schemes, Future Fund, R&D Focused SMEs Fund, HMRC Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, Non-Domestic Rates relief, Small Business Grant or other business support.

Those who apply should not receive working age benefit payments or have applied for but not yet started receiving Universal Credit. They must trade as self-employed, not as a limited company or partnership and have taken steps to limit costs and expenditure.

If successful in the grant application, they can continue to work or take on other employment including voluntary work.

For more information visit west-dunbarton.gov.uk/business/grant-and-loan/self-employed-hardship-fund/.