As many as 2.9 million people may have been excluded from the first versions of CJRS and SEISS. The NAO found that people were excluded either because of policy design choices or due to constraints in the tax system. An estimated 1.1 million people were excluded from CJRS because HMRC did not have sufficient data to verify claims, whilst on SEISS, 0.2 million missed out because HMRC did not hold enough data about their self-employment. A further 1.6 million were estimated to have been ruled out of SEISS due to not meeting the scheme’s criteria; for example, because they received less than half their income from self-employment.32 We asked the Departments what issues existed that meant people were unable to receive support and how they were working to resolve them. HMRC confirmed that the eligibility criteria for the extended schemes remained broadly the same as the original scheme. It acknowledged that the structure of these schemes meant that those with more casual working patterns were likely to have found it more difficult to qualify for the schemes than those with more regular working hours.33 It said that the schemes had been designed to help as many people as possible but that it simply wasn’t possible to help everyone.34