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Hundreds of people in Plymouth who applied for financial support while self-isolating due to the Covid-19 pandemic received no money, it has emerged.

A Freedom of Information Request from the revealed 60% of applications for the Government鈥檚 self-isolation scheme in Plymouth were rejected.

It emerged that Plymouth City Council ran out of discretionary funding to support low-paid workers to isolate when they tested positive for coronavirus.

The union body warns that a lack of 鈥渄ecent鈥� sick pay is undermining the 海角视频鈥檚 public health approach. It warned that too many workers are going without the financial support they need to self-isolate in Plymouth, as it released findings which show three in five applications to the self-isolation scheme in the city were rejected.

The TUC research found that out of 1,383 applications in Plymouth, only 565 applicants received financial support to isolate. Plymouth City Council has already exhausted its Government-allocated discretionary fund to support workers and had to access limited local funds to cover extra payments made, the TUC discovered.

Meanwhile, Plymouth City Council said that it has received 1,400 applications for , since February 1, and has to close the scheme at 5pm on Monday, February 15, after running out of cash.

The ARG is designed to support businesses that aren鈥檛 covered by other Covid support schemes and Plymouth has seen a high volume of applications daily, and with a council spokesman saying: 鈥淔rom the start of the process, we have been clear that demand for support is likely to outstrip the funding available, which is already the case with the quantity of applications we have received.

鈥淲e are prioritising the allocation of this funding carefully. We will be assessing the demand and allocations, with a focus on paying priority sectors first before looking at what support may be available for applications from other sectors.鈥�

This all comes as across the South West, more than half of applications (55%) to the self-isolation scheme ended up without a payment.

At the point of response, 44% of South West councils which responded to the research had already run out or were close to running out of discretionary funding.

The self-isolation payment scheme was introduced by the Government on September 28, 2020, six months into the pandemic. The scheme offers a one-off 拢500 payment for those who need to self-isolate because of coronavirus but cannot work from home.

Local authorities use discretionary grants to support applicants who do not meet the strict Government-set criteria for the main self-isolation scheme.

According to the Resolution Foundation, seven in eight workers aren鈥檛 eligible for the main scheme, so instead, have to rely on discretionary payments.

The TUC said most applicants to the scheme have been left without the financial support they need to self-isolate. The TUC warns the Government鈥檚 鈥渟evere underfunding of the scheme nationally鈥� is putting pressure on local authorities such as Plymouth to either plug the funding gap themselves or reject applications from low-paid workers who need financial support to self-isolate.

The Government recently announced an additional 拢20million for the self-isolation scheme, including 拢10million for the discretionary scheme.

However, the TUC said this is 鈥渢oo little too late鈥� as it would not be enough to satisfy demand and comes after councils have had to spend money plugging the gap themselves.

How to contact William Telford and Business Live

Business Live's South West Business Reporter is William Telford. William has more than a decade's experience reporting on the business scene in Plymouth and the South West. He is based in Plymouth but covers the entire region.

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The self-isolation scheme was originally set to end on January 31, 2021, but the Government did not clarify if funding would be topped up until mid-January.

The TUC said many workers may have been forced to go to work because of delays to further Government support. The TUC is calling for statutory sick pay to be raised to the level of the real Living Wage of 拢330 a week and extended to all workers.

Statutory sick pay stands at 拢95.85 a week . Nearly two million workers do not earn enough to qualify for it 鈥� most of them are women.

IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING ENOUGH TO SUPPORT BUSINESSES DURING THE PANDEMIC? PLEASE COMMENT BELOW

TUC South West regional secretary Nigel Costley said: 鈥淣o 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鈥檛 working.

鈥淭oo many low-paid workers in the South West are going without the financial support they need to self-isolate. These failures have forced workers to make the difficult choice of protecting lives or their livelihoods.

鈥淭he Government could easily fix the problem tomorrow by offering decent sick pay to those who need to self-isolate. Ministers must stop turning a blind eye and raise statutory sick pay to at least the real Living Wage. And they must make sure every worker has access to it.鈥�