The NSESS is supporting those who commenced self-employment in 2019/20 and have been adversely impacted by Covid-19.
Eligible applicants receive a one-off taxable grant of £3,500.
Minister Dodds said, “The NSESS has been operating on broadly the same principles as the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).
“However, this has meant that some applicants are being ruled out on technicalities, despite being very much within the group the scheme aims to assist.
“My Department has assessed these issues and is introducing changes to the eligibility criteria that will enable more applicants to qualify for support.
“The new criteria will be applied to existing and new applications.
The closing date has now been extended to Friday 5 February to allow applicants the opportunity to include evidence from their 2019/20 HMRC tax return.
The NSESS provides financial support to newly self-employed individuals (sole traders and those in partnerships) whose business has been adversely impacted by Covid and who have not been able to access support from the UK government’s Self-Employed Income Support Scheme.
A one-off taxable grant of £3,500 will be provided.
Newly self-employed individuals (sole traders and those in partnerships) are eligible for the NSESS if they commenced trading as self-employed between 6 April 2019 and 5 April 2020 and their business has been adversely impacted by Covid-19.
Covid-19: NI live events staff struggle as sound of silence continues
By Alan Haslam
The live music and events industry has been a high-profile casualty of the coronavirus crisis.
We all miss the collective, communal excitement of the gigs and festivals banned under current restrictions.
But what about those who work behind the scenes?
The future looks highly uncertain for sound engineers, lighting designers, riggers, backline techs and others who help to bring live events to life.
Approximately 7,500 people work in Northern Ireland s live events industry and most have been without employment since the pandemic struck last March.
Despite the arrival of vaccines and rapid-turnaround tests, there are still uncertainties about when they can return to their jobs.