States Assembly | R-92-2017

The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.

The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.

PDF version

Minister's Report 2016

Social Security Department

R.92/2017

Social Security Department

MINISTER Susie Pinel Deputy of St. Clement

ASSISTANT MINISTER Graham Truscott Deputy of St. Brelade No. 2

CHIEF OFFICER Ian Burns

Presented to the States by the Minister for Social Security.

Contents

Section 1 – Minister's Report ...................................................................................... 4

Section 2 – Fund Income ........................................................................................... 16

Section 3 – Social Security Fund Benefits (SSF) .......................................................... 20

Section 4 – Health Insurance Fund Benefits (HIF) ....................................................... 30

Section 5 – Long-Term Care Fund Benefits (LTCF)....................................................... 35 Section 6 – Tax Funded Services and Benefits ............................................................ 37

Appendix: Summary of legislation approved or amended in 2016 ............................ 65

Section 1 – Minister's Report

Minister's Foreword

I am pleased to present Social Security's Annual Report for 2016. This marks the third Annual Report in my term as Minister for this Department, and I continue to be impressed by the variety of the Department's activities which ensure that every year offers a different challenge. The facts and figures in this report demonstrate the breadth of these challenges and the successes that have been achieved.

After a period of heightened unemployment it is heartening to be able to look back on a year where the Island benefited from a more stable external environment and felt the impact of local measures taken to promote growth. Jersey saw a record number of people in employment in 2016 and we ended the year on a high, with the number of people actively seeking work at its lowest level for six years. Another positive result of the improved economic position combined with well-targeted benefits was a steady reduction in the number of people needing Income Support.

The Social Security Fund was independently reviewed by the UK Government Actuary in 2016, with the results confirming that the ring-fenced fund used to meet the cost of pensions is in a strong position, although changes will be needed in the future to meet the challenges of an ageing population. The fact that we're living longer prompted us to launch the first major review of the Social Security scheme since the last one 20 years ago. The first element - Living Longer: Thinking Ahead - was published in October and I'd like to thank the 1,300 local people who responded to the consultation – your views are vital and will make a real difference to the development and sustainability of the Social Security scheme over the next 30 years.

The topic of age was also tackled in other areas with the extension of discrimination legislation in September 2016 to include protection for Islanders against discrimination based on age. This topic will be increasingly important over the next few years; we will need to make more changes to working practices and legislation to accommodate people working and living longer.

In line with the Departmental aim to provide well-targeted benefits, in 2016 we agreed and launched a means-tested Christmas Bonus which ensures that low income pensioners and other vulnerable groups are guaranteed a one off bonus in December each year. Alongside the Christmas Bonus, the new Pension Plus scheme was developed in 2016 for introduction in January 2017. This scheme is based on the previous 65+ Health Scheme but has been extended to provide improved access to optical, dental and chiropody benefits for lower income pensioners to help them stay healthy and maintain their independence.

Looking forward, 2017 will be another busy year. We're continuing the Social Security Review and starting work on disability discrimination, with the aim of introducing regulations in 2018. This legislation will be developed in parallel to the island wide Disability Strategy. We're going to look at the benefits, the assessment tools and the services that support those with illness and injury and help them back into work whenever possible. It is vital that we develop our policies and services to embody modern practices, to reflect current attitudes and needs.

We also intend to strengthen our commitment to reducing fraud, as well as improving our customer

services and communications. It's good to be able to report that so many ideas for improvement in

2016 came from our customer-facing staff based on their interactions with clients. Many of these ideas

are included in the major investment we're making this year to help our Income Support customers

towards financial independence.

Minister's R

So although it's my privilege as Minister to introduce this Annual Report, the successes set out in these pages are very much a team effort and I'd like to thank my Assistant Minister, Deputy Graham Truscott, and Chief Officer, Ian Burns, and the staff across the Department. This strong set of facts and figures for 2016 is due to their commitment, dedication and expertise. I look forward to continuing our work in 2017.

Deputy Susie Pinel

Social Security – Our strategic aims

to help people to achieve and maintain financial independence;

to provide well-targeted social benefits and support to those unable to fully support themselves;

To deliver excellent customer services.

In 2016, we were responsible for:-

A compulsory, contributory Social Security insurance scheme that receives contributions from employers, employees and general tax revenues. This scheme is most closely associated with the payment of pensions, but it also provides contributors with many benefits throughout life by offering support from Maternity Allowances through to Death Grants.
A compulsory, contributory Health Insurance Scheme that receives contributions from employers and employees. This scheme subsidises GP consultation fees and pays for prescriptions issued by GPs and dentists.
A compulsory, contributory Long-Term Care scheme that receives contributions from individuals and general tax revenues. The scheme provides a range of benefits for adults with long-term care needs.
Non-contributory means-tested benefits including Income Support. These are funded from general tax revenues and provide targeted support for lower income households.
Back to Work services which help people into work and support adults with barriers to employment to obtain and maintain paid work. The Department funds the Jersey Employment Trust (JET) to provide specialist employment advice, training and support for those with a disability or long-term health condition.
Employment legislation, which sets out minimum standards for good employment relations and protection in the workplace. The Department funds the Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service (JACS) to provide advice, training and conciliation.
Health and Safety legislation providing a legal framework which sets out the duties of employers and employees to observe health, safety and welfare at work, as well as the Health and Safety Inspectorate which provides proactive advice to employers and undertakes investigations when things go wrong.
Discrimination legislation that ensures people are not treated unfairly due to their race, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity.
The maintenance of the Names and Addresses Register and the registration of individuals and businesses under the Control of Housing and Work Law.

Executive summary

The 2016 Social Security Annual Report consolidates another successful year for the Department. 2016 was very Minister's R much a "business as usual" year for Social Security, although that description encompasses a substantial and

diverse amount of work on behalf of the people of Jersey. This report is, as always, a testament to the range of

activities the Department undertakes, and to our success in completing them. Alongside those daily activities,

2016 saw us lay the groundwork for some important projects that will be continue in 2017 and through the years

ahead.

Social Security plays a unique role in administering both services that are essential to the daily needs of the Island and those that are needed to plan for our future. In particular, 2016 saw the launch of a major project to consult on and set the future direction of the contributory Social Security system.

The breadth of the benefits provided by the Department is clearly demonstrated in Table 1.

Benefits Administered by the Department

2016 spend

£ million

Supporting

Old Age Pensions

172.9

30,880 pensioners

Income Support 72.0 5,951 households Long-Term Care 42.3 1,173 claimants Long-term Incapacity Allowance & Invalidity Benefit 22.4 4,654 claimants

Pharmaceutical Benefit (cost of drugs and dispensing)

20.2

2.0 million items prescribed

Short Term Incapacity Allowance 13.4 497,749 days paid Medical Benefits and Jersey Quality Improvement 9.7 358,914 consultations

Framework (GP services)

Survivor's Benefits 4.5 770 claimants Maternity Benefits 3.3 1,056 parents

Home Carer's Allowance 1.9 180 carers

Christmas Bonus

0.4

4,591 claimants

Death Grant 0.6 806 grants

Food Costs Bonus 0.2 1,164 households 65+ Health Scheme 0.3 4,237 claims Gluten Free vouchers 0.4 641 claimants

TV Licence Benefit 0.3 1,902 claimants

Other Benefits (Less than £250,000)

0.5

Total 365.2 Table 1: Summary of 2016 spend on benefits administered by the Department.

Keeping in touch with Customers

A key aim of the Department is to provide good customer services and in 2016 we looked at how we provide information related to the benefits and services we offer. We wanted to make it easier for people to do business with us, whether online, by post, over the telephone or in person. To achieve that we have continued to invest in customer service and training and in improving our application forms, letters and leaflets. As a result, 2016 again saw staff from Social Security recognised in the Jersey's Customer Services Awards with all the finalists and the winner in the public sector category coming from the Department. This is a welcome public endorsement of the consistent efforts being made at all levels of the Department to improve the experience of our customers.

As part of this work, in 2016 we began a project to review the standard letters that the Social Security Department produces. This is a major undertaking because the range of work we do means that the Department uses many different standard letters. Drawing on techniques pioneered by the Behavioural Insights Team set up by the UK government, we have redesigned the letters that people receive as a result of missing a payment of contributions, as this was shown to be one of the largest drivers of unnecessary calls to the Department and a reason that people weren't always happy with our service.

Alongside traditional letters, we've trialled a number of e-Gov initiatives, including a successful project that allowed people on Income Support to notify us online of changes to their claims. These can now be processed more quickly and people no longer need to visit the Department to tell us about minor changes.

Expanding our customer services

During 2016, we launched a new Income Support event aimed at community organisations and colleagues elsewhere in the States that explains the key concepts of Jersey's benefit for low-income households. Instead of a single lengthy presentation, we designed an event that allowed for round-table discussions, hosted by expert customer-facing staff. The feedback has been extremely positive, so much so that a second session was held to meet the demand from stakeholders and colleagues who were unable to attend the first session. A result of this has been greatly improved contact with staff from a variety of the other agencies with whom we share customers, and we have plans to extend this format to other areas of our business.

After several years of incorporating LEAN methodology into our daily operations we've seen tangible benefits and a change in culture. This work continued in 2016 with completed projects including a reduction in the waiting time for new income support customers to have their applications reviewed, as well as a quicker turnaround for registration cards issued under the Control of Housing and Work Law. LEAN has also helped back office functions, reducing the staff time required to process medical certificates and cutting the processing time for monthly financial reporting. Staff throughout the organisation have embraced the idea that the public sector should always be looking for improving customer service and reducing unnecessary administration. The results have not just been better customer service, financial savings and fewer errors, but a freeing up of staff capacity to allow extra services to be developed and provided. In a climate where we've been asked by the Council of Ministers to control expenditure on benefits, LEAN techniques have helped the Department to control spending on staff costs and administration.

Reducing unemployment

Addressing unemployment in the Island has been a top priority of the Council of Ministers since 2011. This will remain a focus for us, even as Jersey's economy continues to improve. States' investment in our Back to Work service has meant that in 2016 we were proud to report the lowest level of people registered as Actively Seeking work in six years – 1,280 individuals. This was accomplished even though we expanded our support to bring larger numbers of Income Support claimants into our employment services, primarily customers who've been out of work and claiming Long Term Incapacity benefit, and parents of children at nursery age. We also recognised that it was essential to invest in tailored services for younger unemployed people, and success in this area means that the number of jobseekers under the age of 25 was reduced to just 245 from a peak of 590 in January 2013.

In 2016, we expanded the "Foundations" programme, designed for those customers with specific barriers to employment. It gives them practical, paid experience of employment, offering financial and social benefits to a group of customers who have sometimes been the hardest for us to help. We've also been able to further develop our relationships with employers to ensure that those customers who have become long term unemployed can be given a chance to prove themselves. This has been achieved through the Employment Incentive, where employers receive financial support to cover six months' salary, as well as the development of paid training opportunities in areas such as construction and hospitality, which have often necessitated off-Island recruitment.

Minister's R

Combatting fraud

Benefit fraud only represents a small proportion of the Department's overall costs, but it's a priority area where we'll continue to pursue improvements and to prosecute offenders. People who attempt to defraud the Department create costs for the taxpayer and make life more difficult for the overwhelming majority of genuine benefit claimants, and so we focus on uncovering fraud and discouraging bad behaviour before it starts. Much of the work of our dedicated fraud team goes on behind the scenes, with interventions that address overpayments and recover money before expensive court cases are needed, but the Department will always aim to bring a prosecution when a significant amount of money is involved. As a last resort, serious offences can result in a custodial sentence.

Health and Safety

The Social Security Department also includes a dedicated Health & Safety Inspectorate. Although this team has the remit to safeguard many different working activities in Jersey, much of its work inevitably concerns oversight of safety in the construction industry, one of the highest risk industries in the Island. Therefore it was a major achievement in 2016 to introduce the Management in Construction (Jersey) Regulations 2016, which came into force on 1 October 2016. These replaced the Construction (Safety Provisions) (Jersey) Regulations 1970. This was the most significant change in H&S legislation since the Health and Safety at Work (Jersey) Law 1989 was introduced, and was the culmination of many years of engagement with the construction industry. Due to the detailed consultation process leading up to the new regulations, this major law change was achieved smoothly with the overwhelming support of local industry.

Ageing population

Planning for an increased population of older people has been a key focus throughout the Department in 2016. The next stage of discrimination legislation was successfully introduced, providing protection against discrimination on the grounds of age. This included a phased introduction of rights in respect of employees' retirement age, which will be fully effective from September 2018.

The Department is committed to providing well-targeted benefits to key groups and 2016 saw the successful introduction of a targeted Christmas Bonus payable to lower income pensioners and adults and children with a disability living in low income households. Further support for pensioners was developed with the revamping of the 65+ Health Scheme. With extra funding allocated during the Medium Term Financial Plan, a new Pension Plus scheme was designed, with the aim of making health services more accessible to lower income pensioners by removing the need for claimants to pay the full cost of the service in advance and increasing the value of benefits that could be claimed. With States approval for the new scheme obtained during the year, this was introduced in January 2017.

By far the largest area of benefit spend within the department is the old age pension. In 2016, the cost of old age pensions rose to nearly £173 million. The number of pensioners is increasing steadily each year, with numbers up 10% over the last four years. Whilst the Social Security Fund is in a strong position at present, it will come under increasing pressure as pension costs continue to rise in the coming years. To address these issues, a major review of the Social Security scheme was launched in 2016 with a public consultation on the general subject of income in retirement and the specific issue of adjusting the balance between social security contributions and pension payments. The consultation and a report on the responses is available online and this will form the basis of further work over the next few years.

Planning for the future

The net asset value of all four ring-fenced funds at the end of 2016 was just over £1.75 billion, split across four main funds as indicated in Table 2. This build-up of reserves is a sensible approach to the provision of future pensions and benefits, particularly when considering the demographic changes that are on course to affect all economies in the developed world. Simply put, people are drawing pensions for longer as lifespans increase, whilst birth rates remain static, reducing the ratio of workers to pensioners and therefore adding to the pressure on the pension fund. Jersey is in a robust position that few other jurisdictions can match but, nevertheless, it is inevitable that these trends must be factored into our long-term planning.

A high level summary of the 2016 results for the four funds is shown in Table 2 below:

Social Security Social Security Health Long-Term Care Fund (Reserve) Fund Insurance Fund Fund

£ million £ million £ million £ million

Income 240.1 253.7 42.8 52.4 Expenditure 225.4 - 32.2 43.6

	Surplus / (Deficit)	13.7	253.7	10.7	8.8
Transfer to Social Security (Reserve) Fund [1]		(30.0)	30.0
Net Assets at 31 December 2016		72.2	1,572.0	86.3	20.0

Table 2: Fund results for 2016.

And finally

The 2016 Annual Report is likely to be the last in this current format. Over a number of years the Department has

consistently strengthened the way it records and reports information. This has helped to improve services and

create efficiencies in our operational activities, and has given us the data to publish this detailed review document.

Minister's R

The 2017 Annual Report will be shorter as we're aiming to start publishing information on the open data website more frequently as part of the States' "Open Data" initiative. This will give the public better access to our data and people will be able to track trends and analyse publically-available data. The Department works on behalf of the whole community and it's important that everyone has the chance to read about what Social Security is doing for them. We will start with contribution and benefit data later in 2017, and then build on this in the future in response to public interest and demand.

Who does Social Security Support?

		Babies	Children	Working Age

Income Support Child Component Income Support Child Component Income Support is an income related supports low income families with the supports low income families with the benefit that provides support for those living costs of their children living costs of their children looking for work and those in work

towards the cost of living.

Income Support Childcare Income Support Childcare

Component supports working parents Component supports working parents Insolvency Benefit provides financial

with childcare costs of 0 to 11 year with childcare costs of 0 to 11 year assistance to employees whose employers olds olds become insolvent

Maternity and Adoption Grants Dental Fitness Scheme helps toward Back to Work teams provide support, provide a lump sum to help with the the cost of dental treatment for 11-21 coaching and training to help unemployed general costs of having a baby year olds people back into work

Maternity Allowance is a weekly Child Personal Care Benefit supports Health and Safety Inspectorate ensures payment to help mothers while they parents of children who meet the employers provide safe working

take time off work to have their baby requirements for the highest levels of environments

impairment award

Home Responsibility Protection Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service Credits protect pension records for Student Credits protect pension provides advice to employers and

people who stay at home to care for a records while students are in full time employees

child education

Short Term Incapacity Allowance is a Medical and Pharmaceutical Benefits Medical and Pharmaceutical Benefits daily benefit which provides income when subsidise the cost of visiting a GP and subsidise the cost of visiting a GP and a worker is unable to work due to sickness any medicines prescribed any medicines prescribed

Survivor's Benefits support a spouse or civil partner if their partner dies

Key:

Medical and Pharmaceutical Benefits Tax funded Benefit/Service

subsidise the cost of visiting a GP and any Long-Term Care Benefit

medicines prescribed

Contributory Benefit/Credit

Health Insurance Benefits

Illness and Disability Pensioners Minister's Re

Income Support Medical Components provide Income Support supports lower income additional assistance to lower-income pensioner households

households that include someone who has a Food Costs* and Cold Weather Bonuses

long term medical condition provide help with the cost of food items and Housing Adaptation Grants help with the cost heating the home for pensioners who don't pay

of adaptations to the home of those with tax

permanent disabilities Christmas Bonus* is a one off payment made Jersey Employment Trust and Back to Work at Christmas to pensioners who don't pay tax help people with disabilities prepare for, find TV Licence Benefit pays for the TV licence for

and maintain employment over 75's who don't pay tax

Long-Term Care helps fund the care fees for 65+ Health Scheme subsidises dental, optical people with care needs and chiropody costs for pensioners who don't

Long-Term Incapacity Allowance and pay tax

Invalidity Benefit support those with a long Long-Term Care helps fund the care fees for term illness or disability; either physical or people with care needs

mental, both in work and those unable to work

Old Age Pension helps to cover basic needs in Home Carer's Allowance supports carers who old age and is based on contributions paid

give up work to look after someone with high throughout the working life

personal care needs

Death Grants help with funeral expenses Medical and Pharmaceutical Benefits

subsidise the cost of visiting a GP and any Medical and Pharmaceutical Benefits subsidise medicines prescribed the cost of visiting a GP and any medicines

prescribed

Gluten-Free Vouchers help individuals who

need a gluten-free diet *These benefits are also available to some

working age families

Social Security Overview

The body of this report describes the activities of the Social Security Department:

Collection of contributions from individuals/employers.

Provision of benefits and services.

It is divided into five sections:

Fund Income Sources, which details the income sources to the funds administered by the Department.
Social Security Fund, which details the benefits administered under the Social Security Law.
Health Insurance Fund, which details the benefits administered under the Health Insurance Law.
Long-Term Care Fund, which details the benefits administered under the Long-Term Care Law.
Tax Funded Services and Benefits, which details the services provided and benefits administered through tax funded money, including Income Support and the Back to Work programme.

The figure opposite shows the Social Security revenue sources and demonstrates the financial flow through the funds into the benefits and services. For simplicity it does not show all the financial information, such as investment income, depreciation or administration. This detail is provided in the States of Jersey Financial Report and Accounts 2016 and associated Annex to the Financial Report and Accounts 2016.

Minister's R

Figure 1: Flow chart demonstrating the Social Security Department income sources, funds, benefits and services 2016, excluding administration and other costs.

Section 2 – Fund Income

The Funds administered by the Social Security Department have three sources of income.

Contributions collected from individuals and employers
Grants from the States funded through taxation
Investment income

Social Security and Health Insurance Contributions

Contributions from working age adults are due on earnings up to pre-defined earnings ceilings:

A contribution rate of 12.5% is payable on all earnings up to the Standard Earnings Limit (SEL) of £49,120 per year.

For Class 1 contributors (employed) the 12.5% liability is split between the employer (6.5%) and the employee (6.0%). Class 2 contributors (self-employed and others not in paid employment) are liable to pay the full 12.5%.

Since January 2012 a contribution rate of 2% is payable on earnings between the SEL and the Upper Earning Limit (UEL) of £162,504 per year.

Employers and Class 2 individuals are liable to pay the 2% contribution.

In some situations employees are not required to pay their 6% liability, for example people who are in receipt of an Old Age Pension, people receiving Survivor's Allowance (in the first year of bereavement) and some women married before April 2001.

Income Received from Contributors

Table 3 provides an overview of the contributions received and the number of contributors:

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Class 1 contributions paid by employees below SEL (£000) 78,841 78,105 80,286 85,782 87,505 Class 1 contributions paid by employers below SEL (£000) 85,412 84,614 86,977 92,931 94,797 Total of Class 1 contributions below SEL (£000) 164,253 162,719 167,263 178,713 182,302 Total of Class 1 contributions above SEL (£000) 5,121 5,163 5,323 5,462 5,427 Total of Class 2 contributions below SEL (£000) 15,544 14,971 17,007 14,987 15,328 Total of Class 2 contributions above SEL (£000) 1,974 2,136 2,159 1,627 1,662 Total Value of contributions (£000) 186,893 184,988 191,752 200,789 204,719 Average No of Class 1 contributors during year 47,620 47,091 47,614 48,666 49,316 Average No of Class 2 contributors during year 3,783 3,751 3,783 3,860 3,995 Average Total No of contributors during year 51,403 50,842 51,397 52,526 53,311 Average Class 1 contribution per annum (£) 3,557 3,565 3,625 3,784 3,807 Average Class 2 contribution per annum (£) 4,631 4,561 5,066 4,304 4,253 Average Total contributions per annum (£) 3,636 3,638 3,731 3,823 3,840

Table 3: Contributions and contributors, 2012 to 2016.

Table 3 and Figure 2 show that the number of contributors increased by 1.3% on the previous year and the monetary value of contributions increased by 2% in 2016, compared to 2015. There were increases in class 1 contributions below the SEL and in class 2 contributions above and below the SEL and a decrease in class 1 above the SEL. The largest monetary increase was an £3.6m (2%) increase in Class 1 contributions below SEL.

Between 2012 and 2016 the value of contributions up to the SEL has risen by 10% compared to a 9% increase in average earnings over the same period, a real term increase of 1%.

Sou Fund Income

Figure 2: Total contributions and year on year change, 2012 to 2016.

Level of Contributions

In 2016, on average 35% of Class 2 contributors paid above the Standard Earnings Limit each month, with 12% paying at the maximum Upper Earning Limit. By contrast, on average, 21% of Class 1 contributions in 2016 were paid above the Standard Earning Limit, with only 1% paid at the maximum monthly contribution.

Figure 3 shows that proportionately more Class 1 contributors paid at the Standard Earning Limit in March and December, the months typically associated with bonuses.

Figure 3: Class 1 contributors at the Standard Earnings Limit by month in 2016.

Number of Contributors

Contributions are recorded monthly and the number of Class 1 contributors shows a variation in line with the seasonal activities within the Jersey economy, with 5.2% more Class 1 contributors in July than February. Across the year there was a monthly average of 49,316, an increase of 650 Class 1 contributors (1.3%) from 2015, with the increase being driven by the second half of 2016.

For the second consecutive year, there has been an increase in the monthly average number of Class 2 contributors following a period of steady decline. This upward trend saw a small increase from a monthly average of 3,860 in 2015 to 3,995 Class 2 contributors in 2016.

Allocation of Contribution Income

Class 1 and Class 2 contributions are allocated to the Health Insurance Fund and the Social Security Fund according to fixed percentages.

Employer Employer Employee Class 2 Class 2 Fund Class 1 Class 1 Class 1

(below SEL) (above SEL) (below SEL) (above SEL) (below SEL)

Health Insurance Fund

1.2%

0.8%

2.0%

Social Security Fund 5.3% 2.0% 5.2% 10.5% 2.0% Total 6.5% 2.0% 6.0% 12.5% 2.0%

Table 4: Percentage allocation of Class 1 and 2 contributions to the Health Insurance Fund and Social Security Fund.

Contribution Credits

In some circumstances contribution credits are available to protect people's contribution record and their entitlement to certain Social Security benefits. As well as protecting records during periods in which a contributory benefit is being claimed, credits are also available to:

People caring for a child at home (1,221 people as at 31 December 2016).
People over 18 in full-time education (766 people as at 31 December 2016).
People who have been made compulsorily redundant (27 people as at 31 December 2016).

The most common source of contribution credits is for those caring for a child at home. This is known as Home Responsibility Protection (HRP) and is available for an adult who is not working in order to look after a child under school age, with a maximum of 10 years of credits available for any one person.

Long-Term Care contributions

In 2016, the maximum Long-Term Care contribution rate was increased from 0.5% to 1.0%. The amount of contribution is based on an individual's total income taking into account their tax allowances and reliefs and is only chargeable up to the upper earnings limit (UEL). £18m of income was raised through Long-Term Care contributions in 2016, an increase of £9.6m.

States Grant to the Social Security Fund

Class 1 and Class 2 contributors with earnings below the Standard Earning Limit in a given month, but above the Lower Earnings Limit of £864 per month, normally receive a "top-up" supplement to bring their contributions up to the Standard Earning Limit. This is called "supplementation" and protects pensions and benefit entitlement for lower and middle income earners,

The States provides an annual grant to the Social Security Fund. Up to 2010, the value of the States Grant was based on the exact cost of supplementation for the year in question. In 2011 a new method of calculating the value of the States Grant was established. This introduced certainty to the level of States contribution by setting the States Grant for 2011, and basing 2012 and future years on a formula set out in the law.

As part of the Fiscal Strategy Review, in 2011 the States agreed to introduce a 2% contribution rate for employers Sou and Class 2 contributors between the Standard Earnings Limit and the Upper Earnings Limit, with the additional Fund Income contribution income collected used to reduce the level of the States Grant by covering some of the cost of

supplementation. This led to the value of the States Grant for 2012 and 2013 being at a relatively lower level than

previous years due to the extra contributions raised through the introduction of the new 2% rate. In 2016 the

value of the States Grant was maintained at its previous value of £65.3m. This was agreed as part of the Medium

Term Financial Plan. The total value of the States Grant plus contributions above the Standard Earning Limit was

£72.4m, compared to the actual cost of supplementation of £79.5m.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Year

£000 £000 £000 £000 £000

Cost of supplementation

68,206

69,239

72,123

77,232

79,548

Contributions above Standard Earning Limit 7,095 7,299 7,482 7,089 7,089

	States Grant value	61,150	62,200	63,700	65,300	65,300
Total contributions received (Social Security Fund)		157,977	156,415	162,125	169,659	173,014
	Combined value of States Grant and contributions	219,127	218,615	225,825	234,959	238,314

Table 5: States Grant in respect of the cost of supplementation, 2012 to 2016.

States Grant to the Long-Term Care Fund

The States also pays an annual grant to the Long-Term Care Fund. In 2016, the States Grant to the Long-Term Care Fund amounted to £34.3m, comprising of a £6.1m transfer from 2015 Social Security underspends and a tax funded grant of £28.2m. This represents a £6.3m increase on 2015. The annual grant was set in 2016 based on the previous cost of supporting long-term care costs borne by the Social Security Department and the Health and Social Services Department. The value of this grant will rise in following years in line with the annual increase in RPI.

Fund Investments and Performance

Details of the investments and performance of the Social Security (Reserve) and Health Insurance Funds, along with details of the financial statements of the department can be found in the States of Jersey Financial Report and Accounts 2016 and associated Annex to the Financial Report and Accounts 2016.

Section 3 – Social Security Fund Benefits (SSF)

The Social Security Fund pays for benefits to contributors who have made the required contributions and satisfy other specific conditions. Benefits mainly support claimants at times when they are less likely to be able to support themselves through employment, including maternity, sickness and old age. In 2016, the amounts paid across the full range of benefits available through the Social Security Fund are as follows:

2015 2016 Social Security Fund Benefit

£000 £000

Old age pensions 166,746 172,933 Short Term Incapacity Allowance 12,315 13,402

	Long Term Incapacity Allowance	15,515	15,755
Invalidity Benefit		7,289	6,631
	Survivor's benefits	4,550	4,475
Maternity benefits		2,958	3,324
	Home Carer's Allowance	1,872	1,886
Insolvency Benefit		(26)	106
	Death Grant	522	582
Total benefit expenditure		211,741	219,094
Table 6: Social Security Fund benefit expenditure 2015 and 2016.
SSF – Old Age Pensions (OAP)

Old age pensions can be claimed by anyone over pension age who has worked in Jersey and has paid Social Security contributions for at least 4½ years.[2] Pensions can be claimed by anyone who meets the contribution criteria, including people who have since left Jersey.

The value of the pension depends on the number of years of contributions with the maximum, full rate of pension being paid to those with a contribution record of 45 years or more.

Historically the old age pension was increased once a year in line with the growth in average earnings. In the past earnings have increased at a greater rate than inflation and thus the value of the old age pension grew in real terms. More recently however, and on a number of occasions, inflation has exceeded the increase in earnings and thereby the value of pensions has decreased in real terms. In 2013 a new uprating method was introduced to safeguard the value of the pension. This new methodology increases the state old age pension with reference to both inflation, measured through the Retail Price s Index for Pensioners, and average earnings, measured by the Index of Average Earnings. The new method of uprating pensions ensures that pensions increase at least in line with inflation; at the same time, in the longer term, increases will track the growth of average earnings.

In October 2016 the annual uprate was applied using the new methodology, with the standard rate of pension increasing by 2.1% from £199.99 to £204.19 per week. For couples married before April 2001 a married pension is available based on the contribution record of the husband and the full pension is paid at 166% of the single rate (£338.96 for 100% pension).

The new methodology in uprating only applies to old age pensions. All other contributory benefits within Social Security legislation that refer to the standard rate benefit continue to be uprated by the index of average earnings. In October 2016 this led to an increase in the standard benefit rate (excluding pensions) from £199.99 to £204.19.

The current pension age is 65, with an option to take a reduced rate pension up to two years early. At present some women continue to have a pension age of 60, if they were registered for Social Security purposes before 1975. In 2014 the States passed legislation to increase the pension age in Jersey from 2020, with the pension age rising by two months per year, increasing the age from 65 to 67 by 2031.

Just over three-quarters (£172.9 million) of Social Security benefit expenditure is in respect of old age pensions. This cost is growing year on year as the number of pensioners increases. At the end of 2016 there were 30,880 pensions in payment. There has been a 10% increase in the number of pensions paid between 2012 and 2016 and an 9% increase in the rate of the pension leading to an overall increase of 19% in the total cost of pensions over this time.

Year 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

No of Old Age Pensions in

payment at year end 28,130 29,052 29,582 30,122 30,880

Value of Old Age Pensions Paid 146,139 154,229 160,464 166,746 172,933

£000's Ben Weekly full (100%) Old Age

£187.25 £193.48 £197.40 £199.99 £204.19

Pension rate at year end £ Social Security

Table 7: Pension comparisons, 2012 to 2016.

The number of pensions in payment rose by just under 3% (758) during 2016, which is a slightly higher rate of increase to the previous two years. This increase is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Number of Old Age Pensions in payment at year end, 2012 to 2016.

Demographics of Old Age Pensioners

The female to male ratio slowly increases with age, reflecting the fact that, on average, women live longer than men. Of the 225 pensioners aged 95 or over, 181 (80%) are female.

Figure 5: Number of pensioners by age bracket as at 31 December 2016.

Old Age Pension Payments

At the end of 2016 there were 18,220 people receiving their pensions in Jersey, and 12,660 receiving their pensions outside Jersey.

Of the 12,660 pensions paid outside Jersey, 6,417 are paid in the UK and other Channel Islands, 4,836 are paid in the rest of Europe and 1,407 paid across the rest of the world.

Figure 6: Distribution of where pensions are paid as at 31 December 2016.

The pensioners living in Jersey have typically paid more Social Security contributions having lived and worked for more years in Jersey, and therefore receive a larger pension. The lower levels of pensions paid abroad reflect Jersey's history of high levels of migrant labour where non Jersey born nationals have worked in Jersey for a relatively short period before leaving the island.

86% of Jersey residents receive a pension of over 50% of the full pension compared to only 16% of non-Jersey residents.

Figure 7: Distribution of weekly pension rate, Jersey resident and non-resident, as at 31 December 2016.

The higher average rate of pensions paid to residents in Jersey means that, although 41% of all pensioners are not

resident in Jersey, they only received 18% (£32 million) of the total value of pension payments.

Ben

Pension Pension No. of Pensions as

Resident % of Pensions

Value £000 Value % at 31 December 2016 Social Security

Jersey 140,768 81% 18,220 59% UK and other CI 16,316 9% 6,417 21%

Rest of world

15,849

6,243

20%

Total 172,933 30,880 Table 8: Total value and number of pensions 2016.

SSF – Survivor's Benefits and Death Grants

Two types of survivor's benefits are paid: Survivor's Allowance and Survivor's Pension. These benefits are paid on a percentage basis to survivors based on the contribution record of their deceased spouse or civil partner and are mainly paid to survivors while they are of working age. Survivor's Allowance is paid to a survivor for the first 52 weeks following bereavement and at 20% above the standard rate of benefit. After the first 52 weeks, Survivor's Allowance is replaced by Survivor's Pension which is paid at the standard rate of benefit. Survivor's benefits are not paid if the survivor remarries, co-habits or enters another civil partnership and they cease when the survivor reaches pension age. As of 1 January 2013 the eligibility for Survivor's Pension changed and since then the benefit is only payable to people with dependent children. People already in receipt of Survivor's Pension or Allowance and people born before 1 January 1957 are not affected by this change.

Type of Benefit No. of Claimants Average Weekly Claim Rate £ Survivor's Allowance 68 154.39

Survivor's Pension 702 104.73

Total 770 109.11

Table 9: Number of claimants of survivor's benefits and average weekly claim rates as at 31 December 2016.

Survivor's benefits are paid worldwide. Although 54% of the total number of survivor's benefits are paid in Jersey, 70% of the total value of survivor's benefit is paid in Jersey, as shown in Figure 8 and Figure 9. The majority of survivor's benefits are paid to women (86%).

Figure 8: Survivor's benefits claimant numbers by location in payment as at 31 December 2016.

Figure 9: Survivor's benefit value by location in 2016.

A contributory Death Grant is available in respect of most deaths in Jersey. The value of the grant increased from £799.96 to £816.76 in October 2016. Grants are also paid in respect of individuals living outside Jersey at the time of their death, if they were receiving a full-rate benefit, such as a 100% old age pension rate, immediately prior to the date of death or their departure from Jersey was less than six months prior to the date of death.

In the small number of cases where a Death Grant is not payable under the contributory system, a non- contributory grant can be provided using a tax-funded budget.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total Value of Death Grants

482 483 460 522 582 £000

Individual Death Grant Value as at 31

749.00 765.52 785.68 799.96 816.76 December £

Table 10: Total value of Death Grants paid and value of an individual Death Grant, 2012 to 2016.

SSF – Short Term Incapacity Allowance (STIA)

Short Term Incapacity Allowance (STIA) is usually authorised by GPs and paid to working age claimants who satisfy the necessary contribution conditions for periods of incapacity lasting between 2 and 364 days.[1] Most STIA claims are paid at the standard rate of benefit. This was £199.99 per week at the beginning of 2016, rising to £204.19 per week from 1 October 2016.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Cost of STIA Claims £000 13,650 12,938 12,413 12,315 13,402

No. of STIA Claims Paid 27,260 25,703 24,743 25,514 26,521 Ben

	No. of Days Paid			543,149	509,714	476,243	469,318	497,749
Average Length of Claim				19.9	19.8	19.2	18.4	18.8
able 11: Annual STIA claims paid, 20		1	2	to 2016

Social Security

Table 11 details the number of claims paid and the total number of days covered by STIA claims over the past five years.

Figure 10 shows the trends in the total number of STIA claims and the average (mean) length of claim. It highlights that following a steady decreasing trend in their average length, claims have on average started to increase in length in 2016, the number of STIA claims has continued to increase compared with 2015, following a decrease over the previous two years.

Figure 10: Annual number and average length (in days) of STIA claims, 2012 to 2016.

STIA covers a wide range of short-term illnesses and injuries. 28% of all claims during the year related to infectious illnesses, an increase from 27% in 2015. These claims lasted an average of 7.8 days. By contrast, depression, stress and anxiety accounted for 9% of the claims but 19% of the number of days, with an average duration of over five weeks per claim. Table 12 details some of the most common reasons for STIA claims in 2016:

% of all 2016 No. Of Claims No. Of Days Average Claim

2016 STIA Reason for Claim

Claims Paid Paid Paid Length (Days)

Infections 28% 7,418 57,844 7.8 Hospital treatment 16% 4,134 97,747 23.6

	Depression, stress and anxiety			9%			2,478			96,115			38.8
Back/neck pain/injury				9%			2,415			44,225			18.3

Table 12: Most common reasons for claiming STIA in 2016.

Some individuals have a long-term health condition that lasts for more than a year. These claimants can apply for Long Term Incapacity Allowance (LTIA). Whereas a claimant cannot claim STIA and work, LTIA claimants can return to work or stay in work and continue to claim the benefit.

SSF – Long Term Incapacity Allowance (LTIA) and Invalidity Benefit (INV)

These benefits are paid to working age people who satisfy the necessary contribution conditions and who have a long-term loss of faculty.[2]

LTIA compensates people for their loss of faculty, regardless of whether it is as a result of an illness or injury. Unlike STIA, it is based on a Social Security medical assessment not a doctor's certificate and has different criteria to STIA. It is assessed as a percentage of the standard rate of benefit based on their loss of faculty and is an in work benefit. The maximum value of the benefit (100%) is set at the standard rate of benefit. In October 2016 the rate rose from £199.99 per week to £204.19 per week.

A minority of claimants will be assessed at 100% for a major loss of faculty. Most claimants are assessed at a lower percentage, in 5% bands.

Figure 11: Number of LTIA claims in payment by rate % as at 31 December 2016.

The average percentage rate of assessment for LTIA claims in payment in 2015 is 36% and this percentage has remained more or less constant over the last five years.

As with STIA, LTIA covers a wide range of illnesses and injuries. Depression is by far the most common condition, accounting for 17% of all claims. Back pain and back injuries combined accounted for 12% of all claims. Table 13 identifies the most common conditions in 2016.

Average % Degree of LTIA Condition No. of claims % of all claims

Incapacity

Depression 608 17% 36% Pain - Back 312 9% 32%

	Accident/Injury (Other)		133		4%		39%
Anxiety		131		4%		35%
	Injury – Back		124		3%		38%
Carcinoma		112		3%		55%
	Stress		108		3%		28%

Table 13: Most common LTIA conditions at 31 December 2016.

Ben

LTIA was introduced in October 2004 to replace Invalidity Benefit and Disablement Benefit. Invalidity Benefit was

payable as a result of a permanent illness and did not allow claimants to undertake work whilst claiming. Social Security Disablement Benefit was payable as a compensation for a permanent disability as a result of an accident, and

allowed claimants to undertake work whilst claiming.

Figure 12 shows an ongoing decrease in the number of Invalidity Benefit claims as all new claimants now receive LTIA. Combined, the number of people receiving LTIA and Invalidity Benefit has been relatively stable over recent years with a 2.8% increase over the four year period 2012 to 2016.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Invalidity claims

859

759

667

595

529

LTIA

3,670 3,815 3,958 4,035 4,125 claims

Total claims 4,529 4,574 4,625 4,630 4,654 Figure 12: Number of Invalidity and LTIA claims at 31 December, 2012 to 2016.

SSF – Maternity and Adoption Benefits

A Maternity Grant (or Adoptive Parent Grant) is paid to help with the initial general costs of having a baby. The Grant is available as a lump sum to either the father or mother who satisfies the contribution conditions. The value in 2016 was £599.97, rising to £612.57 from 1 October 2016. Multiple grants are provided in the case of multiple births. The great majority of parents having a baby in 2016 received a Maternity Grant from the Department. 1,008 births were recorded in 2016 with 931 maternity grants being paid by the Department in 2016. Figure 13 shows the nationality of those in receipt of Maternity Grants in 2016:

Figure 13: Maternity Grants by nationality.

Figure 14: Nationality of age 18-50 female population registered with the Social Security Department.

Just under two-thirds of parents receiving Maternity Grants have British nationality, with the remainder largely reflecting the nationalities of the local female population aged 18-50. The average age of a woman in receipt of Maternity Benefit in 2016 was 32. Grants were paid in respect of 20 cases of twins born in 2016 and one case of triplets.

A weekly Maternity Allowance can also be payable to the mother. This can be paid for up to 18 weeks, at the same rate as STIA, but based on only the mother's contribution record before she became pregnant.

Indicator 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 No. of Maternity Allowance claims starting in the year 982 894 834 876 898 No. of Maternity Grant claims paid in the year 1,011 970 837 1,020 931 No of Births Recorded 1,123 1,017 985 997 1,008

Table 14: Maternity indicators, 2012 to 2016.

SSF – Home Carer's Allowance (HCA)

At the beginning of 2013, the Home Carer's Allowance replaced the Invalid Care Allowance tax funded benefit. The new benefit is similar to the old Invalid Care Allowance, and is in place to help people who give up employment to take on a caring commitment for a person who needs a high level of personal care.

To qualify for Home Carer's Allowance claimants should be of working age, spend at least 35 hours each week caring and have earnings of no more than £149.54 per week. These requirements were also in place for the old benefit.

In the past people with an annual household income of £62,382 (2012 cap) or over could not claim Invalid Care

Allowance. Now the household income cap has been removed. There is, however, a requirement for the carer to

Ben have a Social Security contribution record. The new benefit also requires that the "cared for" person has lived in

Jersey for at least one year. Social Security

In 2016 there were 180 claimants, of which the majority were female, at a total cost of just under £1.9 million.

Gender Claimants Average age Female 142 50

Male	38	56
Total	180	52

Table 15: Number of Home Carer's Allowance claimants as at 31 December 2016 by gender and average age.

SSF – Insolvency Benefit

Insolvency Benefit was introduced on 1 December 2012 and provides financial assistance to employees who are made redundant due to the insolvency of their employer. This benefit replaced the temporary, tax funded, insolvency scheme originally introduced in 2009. The amount of benefit is calculated based on amounts owed to employees by the former employer in respect of the following four components:

Unpaid wages relating to the 12 months prior to employment ending.
Holiday pay relating to the 12 months prior to employment ending.
Statutory redundancy pay (one week's capped pay for each year of service, subject to a minimum of two years' service).
Pay in lieu of notice on termination of employment (up to 12 weeks' pay).

The maximum amount of Insolvency Benefit is capped at £10,000 and the Social Security Fund will meet the person's liability for Social Security contributions and income tax (ITIS) on those sums.

During 2016, there were 37 new claims from the former employees of six insolvent employers which resulted in payments of £106,000.

Section 4 – Health Insurance Fund Benefits (HIF)

The Health Insurance Fund provides benefits to local residents in respect of specific primary care costs. The full range of benefits and the cost of these benefits for 2016 are as follows:

2015 2016 Health Insurance Fund

£000 £000

Medical Benefit – GP consultations 7,298 7,195 Medical Benefit – pathology benefit 924 941 Jersey Quality Improvement Framework (JQIF) 1,583 1,587 Pharmaceutical Benefit - drug costs 13,478 13,375 Pharmaceutical Benefit - dispensing fees 6,688 6,815 Gluten-free Vouchers 329 393 Total benefit expenditure 30,300 30,307

Table 16: Health Insurance Fund benefit expenditure for 2015 and 2016.

HIF – Medical Benefits (GP Consultations)

A standard benefit is paid in respect of each GP consultation covered by the Health Insurance Fund. Throughout 2016 the value of the benefit was set at £20.28. The separate benefit, paid at the same rate, previously available in respect of the cost of a letter of referral written by a GP to a hospital consultant or other specialist, was withdrawn in line with the introduction of the JQIF contract payments.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

No of GP consultations 363,601 351,099 349,102 355,497 358,914 Value of Medical Benefit as at 31

20.28 20.28 20.28 20.28 20.28

December £ Table 17: Volumes and costs of GP visits and consultations, 2012 to 2016.

HIF – Jersey Quality Improvement Framework (JQIF)

The Jersey Quality Improvement Framework (JQIF) was introduced in 2015 as an additional income stream for GP practices based on a standard contract aimed at encouraging high quality outcomes for patients. All GP surgeries participated and in 2016, the contract contained 36 clinical and organisational measures describing the standards and activities which GP surgeries should achieve. These included, for example, the creation of a register of patients with diabetes and measures regarding specific interventions for this condition. Payments were made to GP practices according to their level of activity against each measure totalling £1.6 million.

HIF – Pathology Laboratory Benefit

In January 2010 the Health and Social Services Department introduced a charge for analysing blood samples provided by GPs. A new benefit was set up within the Social Security Department, funded through the Health Insurance Fund, to ensure that this cost was not passed on to the patient. The benefit covers blood samples taken for haematology testing and for clinical chemistry testing and was introduced at a standard rate of £10 before being increased to £10.35 in June 2012, and has remained at that rate since.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 No. of Pathology Laboratory benefit 84,562 88,763 86,250 89,308 90,929

claims paid during year

Cost of Pathology Laboratory benefit

claims paid during year £000 [3] 893 924 941

860 919

Value of Pathology Laboratory benefit on 10.35 10.35 10.35 10.35 10.35 31 December £

Table 18: Number and cost of Pathology Laboratory benefit claims, 2012 to 2016.

HIF – Pharmaceutical Benefit

Pharmaceutical benefit covers the full cost of prescription drugs prescribed by GPs and includes a dispensing fee paid to community pharmacists, in respect of each item dispensed. The Minister for Social Security is responsible for maintaining the list of drugs that are available on prescription from GPs.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Total No. of items prescribed

1,784,798 1,846,713 1,871,770 1,936,690 1,983,296 during year

Average cost of a prescribed item

6.58 6.44 6.65 6.96 6.74

	Total cost of prescribed items
			11,742		11,901		12,449		13,478		13,375
	£000
Pharmacy dispensing fees £000		5,656		6,220		6,413		6,688		6,815
Total Cost £000		17,398		18,121		18,862		20,166		20,191

Fun Health Insuran

Table 19: Costs of Pharmaceutical Benefit, 2012 to 2016.

In 2016 there were almost 2 million prescriptions dispensed with a total drug cost of £13.4 million.

Since 2012 there has been an 11% increase in the number of items prescribed, which is highlighted in Figure 15.

Figure 15: Annual pharmaceutical items prescribed, 2012 to 2016.

Types of Drugs Prescribed

In 2016, a total of 1,983,296 prescription items were dispensed in the community in Jersey, with a total net cost of £13.4 million. The number of items increased by about 2% (46,606 items) on the previous year, but with a fall of 0.8% (£103,000) in the total net cost. The continued growth in prescription numbers is to be expected given the ageing population and a greater emphasis on using medicines to prevent serious illness. However, this has not been accompanied, as in the past, by continued growth in expenditure. The cost of medicines fell across a number of disease areas, largely due to falling prices and a robust policy for using lower cost, generic medicines, where available.

Around one in three prescriptions dispensed in the community in Jersey in 2016 was for a medicine to treat heart (cardiovascular) disease (Figure 16). This group of medicines covers a wide range of conditions, including cholesterol lowering medicines, treatments for high blood pressure, and anticoagulants that thin the blood.

Figure 16: Volume of items prescribed by medicine category in 2016.

The total number of medicines dispensed increased by around 2% on the previous year. Since many medicines are taken to prevent illness and so need to be taken life-long, the number of people taking these medicines grows each year but growth in prescription numbers across many disease areas slowed down in 2016. Disappointingly, there has been a small increase in the use of antibiotics in 2016 compared with the previous year, despite Island- wide initiatives to highlight the risks of overuse of antibiotics.

Number of items Change from Drug type prescribed 2015

Drugs to treat high blood pressure and heart failure (ACE inhibitors)

153,883

+1%

Statins and other drugs to reduce cholesterol 143,164 +1%

	Acid reducing medicines to treat stomach ulcers and acid reflux	140,811	+1%
Pain killers		101,747	0%
	Antidepressant medicines	98,347	+4%
Antibiotics		93,354	+3%
Table 20: Top 6 drug type by number of items prescribed in 2016.

Figure 17 highlights that, as in previous years, medicines which act on the nervous system account for the largest proportion of medicine costs. This category covers a wide range of medicines, including painkillers, treatments for dementia and depression, and sleeping tablets.

Fun Health Insuran

Figure 17: Cost of items prescribed by medicine category in 2016.

HIF – Gluten-free Scheme

Individuals who require a gluten-free diet can receive vouchers towards the cost of purchasing gluten-free products. The current value of the vouchers is £14 per beneficiary per week.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Number of gluten-free

373 423 481 572 641 claimants

Cost of Gluten-free Vouchers

221,831 256,615 278,516 328,967 392,647 £

Average cost per claimant

595 607 579 575 613

Table 21: Gluten-free claimants and costs, 2012 to 2016, as at 31 December.

Section 5 – Long-Term Care Fund Benefits (LTCF)

A new Long-Term Care Fund was set up at the end of 2013. This ring-fenced fund is designed to collect Long-Term Care contributions from tax payers and makes benefit payments to adults who have long term care needs.

Initial funding was provided by the States to allow benefits to be paid from 1 July 2014 whilst collection of Long- Term Care contributions started at the beginning of 2015. The Long-Term Care scheme continues to be funded by an annual States grant and the collection of Long-Term Care contributions, which in 2016 increased from 0.5% to 1% of taxable income up to the Upper Earnings Limit. In total, £42.3m was paid out in Long-Term Care benefit in 2016, which was an increase of £6.3m compared to 2015.

Long-Term Care benefit

One of the key features of the Long-Term Care scheme is to protect households from the uncertainty associated with the risk of incurring catastrophic care costs. To this end, the Long-Term Care benefit (a universal non-means- tested benefit) is payable once care costs reach a certain level – regardless of a household's income and assets.

Long-Term Care benefit helps all households with their care costs once they have reached the standard care costs cap (£53,060 at the end of 2016). The benefit is paid at 4 levels, depending on the type and level of care needed. The weekly rates as at 31 December 2016 were set at:

Level of Weekly cost for standard standard care care in a care home

1 359.52

2 548.80

3 793.31

4 997.50

Table 22: Long-Term Care standard care costs.

The Long-Term Care benefit is also available to people receiving care in their own home. In this case, the benefit rate reflects the actual cost of care up to the standard care cost in a care home.

Term Care

The universal Long-Term Care benefit does not cover the living costs of being in a care home. Support for care Ben costs up to the standard care costs cap of £53,060 and living costs in a care home are provided through two other Long aspects of the Long-Term Care scheme – Long-Term Care support and Long-Term Care property loans.

Long-Term Care support

Long-Term Care support (means-tested financial support) is available to households to help meet care costs and living costs in a care home, depending on the income and assets of the household.

Long-Term Care support is available to households whose income is not enough to meet these costs and whose total assets are below £419,000. Long-Term Care support helps towards standard care fees and the costs of living in a care home (£318.43 for board and lodging plus £34.72 personal allowance per week in 2016). People receiving care at home can claim Long-Term Care support to help cover their care costs, if necessary, alongside an income support claim which helps with basic living costs.

Long-Term Care property loans

Another important driver for the introduction of the Long-Term Care scheme was to improve financial support for homeowners facing high care bills. Depending on income and assets, property loans are available to help cover care costs and living expenses. Loans are interest bearing at a rate of 0.5% above the Bank of England base rate which was 0.5% until the 4 August 2016, when it decreased to 0.25%.

Demographics

As at 31 December 2016, 1,173 individuals were being supported through the Long-Term Care scheme. Figure 18 below demonstrates the demographic profile of those within the scheme; showing that overall there are almost twice as many women on the scheme as there are men, and that this proportion grows with older age.

Figure 18: Long-Term Care claimants 31 December 2016.

Section 6 – Tax Funded Services and Benefits

The Department delivers a range of tax-funded, rather than contributory, benefits that are funded directly by the States of Jersey, shown in Table 23.

2015 2016 £000 £000

Income Support: Weekly Benefit 73,024 70,469

Income Support: Residential & Nursing Care Fees (135) (10)

Income Support: Transition (Protected) Payments 344 221

Income Support: Special Payments 1,196 741

Income Support: Cold Weather Payments 398 562

Income Support: Total 74,827 71,983 Benefits

Christmas Bonus 1,574 396

Food Cost Bonus 302 260

Cold Weather Bonus 218 227

Jersey 65+ Health Scheme 252 275

TV Licence Benefit 295 275

Other Benefits (under £100,000 each) 175 142

States Contribution to Social Security Fund 65,300 65,300 States Grant

States Contribution to Long-Term Care Fund 19,502 34,321


Total Benefits & Grants	162,446	173,179

Table 23: Tax-funded benefit expenditure (excluding administration) for 2015 and 2016.

Tax Funded Services – Back to Work

Introduction

In late 2011, existing employment support teams were brought together to form the Back to Work programme. It was established to strengthen the government's response to rising unemployment and complements our benefits system, which is designed to make work pay, and is a key part of the government's strategy of getting people back to work.

The aim of the Back to Work programme is to support people who are actively seeking work, and to help them back into paid employment.

Over the course of 2016, Back to Work has continued to enhance its existing provision in order to provide a swift and flexible response to the needs of both jobseekers and employers. Its role is to:

and

Co-ordinate the work of all government employment schemes.

Tax Funded Se

Develop targeted schemes to support locally qualified jobseekers.
Build a partnership with employers to provide sustainable job opportunities for locally qualified

Islanders.

Teams and Initiatives

The aim of every team and initiative within the Back to Work programme is to get unemployed Islanders working, keep people in work and create new employment opportunities linked to sustainable economic growth. Employers benefit from an increase in support and financial incentives, and jobseekers have access to training and support to improve their confidence, skills and motivation to move into the workplace.

In 2016 Back to Work continued to expand its services to demographics who hadn't previously benefited from targeted support, specifically adults with lower awards of Long Term Incapacity Benefit (LTIA).

Including these groups resulted in an increase in the Actively Seeking Work (ASW) figures, adding an extra 104 people to the ASW figures during 2016. Back to Work also continued to offer its services to parents of nursery school children, bringing in an additional 129 people. Even with these extra groups included, there was an overall decrease in ASW numbers, ending the year at 1,280: the lowest recorded unemployment figures since December 2010.

Back to Work customers have the support of an Employment Advisor, and can also access training and other work placements to support them into suitable employment and move them towards financial independence.

The number of young people aged 16-24 who were registered as jobseekers fell from 270 to 245 during the year. This represented a great success for targeted Back to Work initiatives for this group, who are especially vulnerable at the start of their working lives.[4]

Back to Work customers can access support from the following specialist teams:

Advance to Work
Advance Plus
Ready for Work
Work Zone
Work Right
Foundations scheme
Occupational Support Unit (for those jobseekers currently unable to look for work due to serious personal circumstances)

In addition to these teams, Back to Work also includes:

Back to Work Recruitment – (previously Employer Engagement Team) which provides employers with a tailored recruitment service and financial incentives to encourage them to employ unemployed islanders.

Advance to Work

Advance to Work helps young people who are looking for work make the transition between education and employment. It provides a programme of general and vocational training, personal advisor support and work experience with local employers. Advance to Work's target age group is 16 to 24.

Advance Plus

Advance Plus runs industry-specific schemes for motivated jobseekers aged 20 and over who are registered as actively seeking work. The scheme combines intensive training, a five-week unpaid work placement and advisor support to improve a jobseeker's opportunities for work.

Ready for Work

Ready for Work is the first point of contact for anybody registering as actively seeking work, and provides a referral service across Back to Work should a jobseeker require additional support. The Ready for Work service provides a range of jobseeking support as well as facilities to support jobseekers to find employment.

Work Zone

The Work Zone team of Employment Advisors provide one to one support for work-ready clients through intensive job-seeking activities and training as well as supporting clients already working part time to find more work.

Work Right

The Work Right team offers support and advice about job-seeking to people who are long-term unemployed or have barriers to employment. The team aims to bring its clients closer to finding suitable employment through training and individualised action plans.

Foundations

The Foundations scheme was introduced in 2014. It is designed to support jobseekers who are furthest from employment by bringing them closer to, and back into, employment through providing real work experience. This includes working on manual community benefit projects on various sites across Jersey. The work undertaken benefits the community and would not otherwise have been undertaken, examples include: improvements to National Trust land, the Railway Walk and to the premises of community-based services including Highlands College and Le Squez Youth Club. 2016 also saw Foundations expand its scanning project for jobseekers more suited to office based work.

Foundations provides workers with:

Experience of work, to improve their general employability in areas such as attendance, positive attitude, teamwork and motivation to work.
Construction-based skills that include painting and decoration, external maintenance works, and site maintenance.
Office based skills that include computer and scanning machinery usage and experience with a range of IT packages and skills such as attention to detail.

Occupational Support Unit

The purpose of the Occupational Support Unit (OSU) is to support clients who are unable to engage with the other

Back to Work employment provision, and may be deemed either currently or permanently to have significant

barriers to employment for one or more reasons. The advisors on this team will support their clients through

referrals to relevant supporting agencies, such as Drug & Alcohol or Mental Health Services, and work in and partnership with Probation or other services where required. Tax Funded Se

Financial Incentives

A number of financial incentives are available to employers to support the long-term employed back into employment. These incentives are managed through Back to Work Recruitment.

The Employment Incentive offers employers wage reimbursement for the first six months of employment, that is £6,755 (at minimum wage for up to 35 hours per week) for permanent contracts of employment for under 25s who have been registered as ASW for six months or more and jobseekers 25 years old and over who have been registered as ASW for 12 months or more.
The Hospitality Paid Training initiative provides a financial incentive to hospitality employers who recruit and train candidates with no experience in the industry, with their salaries being paid for the training period for up to eight weeks.
The Construction Paid Training initiative funds the wages and Social Security contributions for up to 12 weeks at minimum wage (up to a value of £3,563) for jobseekers with no experience in this industry.
The JobsFest Employer Incentive enabled employers in all sectors to recruit an eligible jobseeker fully funded by Back to Work (wages for up to 35 hours per week and Social Security contributions) for the eight week period 5th October to 29th November. The JobsFest initiative ties in with a typically quiet period of recruitment and was available to registered jobseekers who did not work during 2016. This gives employers the opportunity to employ a candidate with no financial commitment in the hope that they may then be in a position to offer them a longer-term contract after the incentivised period.
The Community Jobs Fund provides up to six months' wages for young or long-term jobseekers employed by a charity or organisation that can provide a role offering a clear, additional benefit to the community.

Actively Seeking Work: Statistics

We gather and maintain data on all individuals who are actively seeking work. This data is reported to the Statistics Unit on a monthly basis and is used to produce and publish an independent analysis.

This is illustrated in Figure 19 which shows the number of individuals who were actively seeking work from 2012 to 2016, with 1,280 people ASW in December 2016 compared to 1,390 in December 2015. In December 2016 more than a quarter of those registered as actively seeking work were working part-time, but were required to find more hours under their Income Support requirements.

Figure 19: Number of individuals actively seeking work at 31 Dec, 2012 to 2016, including an estimate of the baseline total without additional ASW groups.

As previously noted, changes in ASW reporting throughout 2015 and 2016 resulted in increases to the numbers of people recorded as ASW. These had the effect of including certain Income Support groups in the ASW figures for the first time. Despite this, Back to Work was still able to report a positive trend of decreasing numbers of people looking for work, particularly through the additional support services offered to these groups.

The Back to Work teams and initiatives helped unemployed people into 2,036 paid jobs in 2016, compared to 1,910 in 2015 and 2,140 in 2014 when unemployment levels were higher. There is no doubt that without the investment in Back to Work the numbers of those registered as actively seeking work would have been higher.

Scheme Jan - Mar Apr - Jun Jul - Sep Oct - Dec Total WorkZone 184 180 195 122 681 Work Right 133 146 152 175 606

	Advance to Work	75	82	81	72	310
Advance Plus		78	53	48	36	215
	Ready for Work	49	50	57	68	224
Total BTW		519	511	533	473	2,036

Table 24: Numbers of jobs started by customers of each scheme during 2016.

Actively Seeking Work: Demographics of Individuals

There were 3,735 individuals who were actively seeking work at some point during 2016. The split between males and females was approximately 50%, with the largest group being represented by males aged between 16 and 19 (303, 8% of all Islanders in this category registered as actively seeking work at some point during the year).

Figure 20: Gender and age bracket of individuals actively seeking work at some point in 2016.

More than three quarters of individuals registered as actively seeking work were part of an Income Support

household. This proportion has remained stable since 2015, when new groups of Income Support claimants were and brought into Back to Work services. Overall, the proportion of individuals who were long-term unemployed

Tax Funded Se increased significantly during 2016. This is in part due to the additional groups that were introduced in 2015 some

of whom will have remained actively seeking work into and throughout 2016.

31 December 2015 31 December 2016 Total No. of individuals ASW 1,390 1,280

No. of individuals also on Income Support 1,140 1,040

	% of individuals also on Income Support	82%	81%
No. of individuals long-term unemployed		200	260
	% of individuals long-term unemployed	14%	21%
No. of individuals aged 16 - 24		270	240
	% of individuals aged 16 - 24	19%	19%

Table 25: Numbers and proportions of the three target categories at the beginning and end of 2016.

Tax Funded Services – Jersey Employment Trust

The Jersey Employment Trust (JET) is a charitable trust whose primary role is to assist people with a disability and/or a long-term health condition to find and sustain employment. JET provides a range of employment support services, from pre-vocational education courses, work tasters in its own vocational training areas and work experience placements in other commercial settings. The trust helps people to find suitable employment opportunities and also provides on-the-job training and support.

The grant awarded to JET in 2016 was £1,977,500.

More information can be found on the JET website (http://www.jet.co.je).

Tax Funded Services – Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service

The Jersey Advisory and Conciliation Service (JACS) is an employment relations service that helps employers, employees and trade unions work together for the prosperity of Jersey business and the benefit of employees. JACS also helps explain the changes in employment and discrimination law that have been enacted and those which are expected in the next few years.

The services provided by JACS seek to:

Prevent and resolve employment disputes.
Provide impartial information and advice to employers and employees on employment matters.
Improve the understanding of employment relations.

The Social Security Department provides an annual grant to JACS in order to deliver its services, which in 2016 was £378,100. In addition to the main JACS services, an outreach service provides proactive and in-house assistance to small employers (typically with 10 or fewer employees) at an early stage in order to help prevent employment related problems arising in the first place, and to remove the perceived barriers to employing staff by ensuring that employers have an essential tool kit of employment documentation.

The Social Security Minister approves board members appointments.

More information can be found on the JACS website (http://www.jacs.org.je/)

Tax Funded Services – Health and Safety Inspectorate

The Health and Safety Inspectorate carries out a wide range of actions aimed at ensuring that people at work and others who could be affected by working activities are not exposed to risks to their health or safety.

These actions, which are prioritised to address serious health and safety issues, include:

Investigating work-related events which have resulted in death, serious injury or ill health.
Inspecting high risk workplaces to gain compliance with Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) legislation.
Providing advice and guidance to enable those seeking help to meet their duties under OHS legislation.
Taking action on complaints about working conditions and activities within our stated complaints policy.
Enforcing OHS legislation within the Inspectorate's stated enforcement policy.
Collating and publishing statistical information on work related accidents and ill health.
Carrying out targeted action in specific areas to seek improvements in the understanding and management of OHS.
Supporting industry-led initiatives to improve OHS.
Developing the legal framework for OHS to support the improvement of the control of risks in the workplace.

The Health and Safety Inspectorate publishes a separate annual report which gives more detail on specific activities.

and Tax Funded Se

Tax Funded Benefits – Income Support

Introduction

With expenditure in 2016 of just under £72 million, the Income Support benefit is by far the largest tax-funded benefit that we provide. Within that total, support is provided to households and individuals in a variety of different circumstances. An analysis of the £72 million spent in 2016 is as follows:

2015 2016 Category

£000 £000

Income Support: Weekly Benefit 73,024 70,469 Income Support: Residential & Nursing Care Fees [1] (135) (10) Income Support: Transition (Protected) Payments 344 221 Income Support: Special Payments 1,196 741 Income Support: Cold Weather Payments 398 562 Total 74,827 71,983

Table 26: Categorised 2015 and 2016 Income Support benefit expenditure.

Most of the spending on Income Support is used to provide a weekly benefit to eligible local families. Funding is also available to help with one-off costs. Until the end of June 2014, Income Support also provided financial assistance to people living in care homes. From 1 July 2014 this was replaced by the new Long-Term Care scheme.

Income Support: Weekly benefit

Income Support is a household benefit. The amount paid to an individual household depends on the number of people in the household, where they live, their specific needs, and the income and capital assets of the household.

Income Support is available to households in which at least one adult meets a residence test (of at least five years residence in Jersey). Income Support claimants aged 65 and above are not subject to a work test but every adult aged under 65 must meet a work test by either being in full-time work or being included in an exempt category.

Who receives Income Support?

Income Support legislation includes specific rules as to who is included within an Income Support household. In general terms, an Income Support household comprises an adult claimant and, if applicable, their spouse, civil partner or other long-term partner and dependent children.

For Income Support purposes, children are defined as those aged below compulsory school leaving age.[2]

Young adults above compulsory school leaving age continue to be included within the household of their parents if they are under 25 and actively seeking work or in full-time education.

There are additional rules in respect of young people with disabilities.

An extended family living together is considered as separate Income Support households. For example, a couple with two young children sharing accommodation with the wife's parents and the husband's brother and sister-in- law are treated as three separate households:

The couple and their two dependent children.
The wife's parents.
The husband's brother and his wife.

Each household must satisfy the tests for Income Support separately.

At the end of December 2016, a total of 5,951 households were receiving Income Support. These households were made up of: 7,652 adults and 3,275 children.

For this report, these household claims have been split into four groups:

65 years and above (65+): all households that include one or more adults aged 65 or above.
Working age adults with no dependent children (adult/s without children): one or more adults all aged below 65, with no dependent children.
2 or more adults with dependent children (adults with child/ren): 2 or more adults aged below 65 with one or more dependent children.
Single adult with dependent children (single adult with child/ren): a single adult aged below 65 with one or more dependent children.

The distribution of adults and children amongst these household groups is as follows:

Average (mean) Average (mean) No. of Total No. of Total No. of

Household Type Claims Adults No. of Adults Children No. of Children

per Claim per Claim

65+ 1,726 2,083 1.2 6 0.0 Adult/s without children 2,270 2,615 1.2 - -

	Adults with child/ren	918	1,917	2.1	1,667	1.8
Single adult with child/ren		1,037	1,037	1.0	1,602	1.5
Total		5,951	7,652	1.3	3,275	0.6

Table 27: Number and average number of adults and children on Income Support claims as at 31 December 2016.

Over the previous five years, the distribution of household types across all Income Support claims has remained relatively stable, with a slight decrease in the proportion of adult claims without children. This has been caused in part by changes in the Income Support rules, which now include young jobseekers under the age of 25 in their parents' household. Until 2011, all jobseekers were treated as separate households

and Tax Funded Se

Figure 21: Distribution of income support claims by household type as at 31 December, 2012 to 2016.

Well over half of all Income Support households consist of a single adult without children: 1,975 adults aged up to 65 (33% of all claims), and 1,373 adults aged 65 and above (23% of all claims). Table 28 provides more detail:

No. of claims that include:

Household Type

Total

1 Adult

2 Adults

3 Adults

4 or more Adults

65+ 1,373 349 4 - 1,726

	Adult/s without children	1,975	250	40	5	2,270
Adults with child/ren		-	842	72	4	918
	Single adult with child/ren	1,037	-	-	-	1,037
Total		4,385	1,441	116	9	5,951

Table 28: Number of claims by size and type of household as at 31 December 2016.

Table 29 details the number of children on Income Support claims, by household type:

No. of claims that include:

Household Type

1 Child

2 Children

3 Children

4 or more Children

Total

65+ 4 1 - - 5

	Adults with child/ren	379	383	114	42	918
Single adult with child/ren		623	297	94	23	1,037
Total		1,006	208	202	65	1,960

Table 29: Number of claims that include children by size and household as at 31 December 2016. 51% of claims with children include just a single child.

There are 65 claims which include four or more children. This represents 3% of all claims including children, and 1% of all Income Support claims.

The proportion of Jersey or British people claiming Income Support matches the make-up of the Island's population, the actual numbers in some of the other groups is small.

Figure 22: Nationality of working age (16-64) individuals on Figure 23: Nationality of working age (16-64) population Income Support as at 31 December 2016. registered with the Social Security Department as at 31

December 2016.

Overall Claim Rate

For the 5,951 Income Support claims in payment on 31 December 2016, the average (mean) weekly claim rate was £223, with a median value of £200 per week. The spread of Income Support weekly claim rates is shown below:

Figure 24: Weekly Income Support claim rate as at 31 December 2016 (rounded to the nearest £10).

The spike at £250-£260 per week represents the most common rate paid to an unemployed single adult living in a one bedroom rented property.

At the end of 2016 there were 26 claims with a total weekly benefit above £700. These claims represent large households, many including a child or adult with a significant disability.

and Tax Funded Se

Total Household Income

Income Support tops up other household income. Many Income Support households receive income through earnings, pensions, other social security benefits, maintenance agreements and other income. 88% of Income Support households have some other form of income, with the remaining 714 (12%) of Income Support households being totally reliant on Income Support for their weekly income.

As household income from other sources increases, the Income Support benefit decreases until the family is fully self-sufficient. Depending on the source of income, a variety of incentives and allowances are provided to encourage Income Support families to support themselves as far as possible.

Table 30 indicates the average weekly income received from Income Support and from other sources for each of the household types at the end of 2016, as well as the percentages of the Income Support households that are wholly reliant on Income Support.

Average Percentage of

Income Average Average Total Households Household Type Other Income Income

Support wholly reliant on

£ £

Benefit £ Income Support

65+ £179 £226 £405 1% Adult/s without children £186 £165 £351 24%

	Adults with child/ren	£272	£498	£770	3%
Single adult with child/ren		£334	£246	£581	12%
Total		£223	£248	£471	12%

Table 30: Total average (mean) weekly income based on claims as at 31 December 2016.

The previous five years have seen a significant decrease in the percentage of Income Support households that are wholly reliant the weekly benefit as their source of income. Table 31 shows that this trend can be seen across all household types.

Adult/s without Adults with Single adult

Year 65+ Total

children child/ren with child/ren

2012 1% 34% 6% 17% 19% 2013 1% 32% 6% 17% 17%

	2014	1%	29%	4%	17%	15%
2015		1%	25%	2%	14%	13%
	2016	1%	24%	3%	12%	12%

Table 31: Percentage of Income Support households wholly reliant on Income Support by year and household type as at 31 December, 2013 to 2016.

Earnings

In 2016, Income Support households had total earnings of approximately £43.6 million. An earnings disregard of 23%[1] (plus an additional 6% in respect of the cost of Social Security contributions) is allowed against the Income Support calculation, providing a real incentive for low income families to take up and remain in work. This means that only 71% of earned income is included in the Income Support calculation and customers keep 29p in every £1 they earn without it affecting their benefit.

As at 31 December 2016, the distribution of adults with earnings amongst all claims consisting entirely of working age adults was as follows:

No. of Claims with No. of Claims with % of Households

Total No. of

Working Age Household Type no Adult with at least one Adult with no Adult with

Claims

Earnings with Earnings Earned Income

Adult/s without children 1,514 756 2,270 67% Adults with child/ren 105 813 918 11% Single adult with child/ren 398 639 1,037 38% Total 2,017 2,208 4,225 48%

Table 32: Working age adults with and without earnings as at 31 December 2016.

Over the previous five years from 2012 to 2016, the percentage of working age households with no adults with earned income has decreased steadily from 58% to 48%. In addition, the percentage of children in workless households has decreased at a similar rate, as shown in Table 33.

% of Working Age Households % of All Children in Working Age

Year with No Earned Income Households with No Earned Income

2012 58% 35% 2013 55% 35%

	2014	52%	32%
2015		49%	28%
	2016	48%	26%

Table 33: Percentage of children in households with no earned income as at 31 December, 2012 to 2016.

and Tax Funded Se

Pensions

The second largest source of income for Income Support households is pensions, worth a total of about £20 million in 2016. For pensioners aged 65 and above whose claim started on or after 1st January 2016 a 23% disregard is applied to any pension income. Pensioners aged 65 and above who were part of an open Income Support claim prior to 1st January 2016 were provided with the larger amount of either a 23% disregard or a weekly allowance against pension income of £55.23 (first pensioner) and £35.77 (second pensioner), enabling the household to receive the greater amount of benefit. These amounts are exempt from the Income Support calculation. The annualised average pension income of 65+ household has increased by 2% on average each year since 2011.

Average Annual No. of Claims that % of all Households with Household Type

Pension Income £ include Pension Income Pension Income

65+

11,102

1,705

99%

Adult/s without children 5,934 133 6%

	Adults with child/ren	5,884	15	2%
Single adult with child/ren		5,603	15	1%
Total		10,648	1,868	31%

Table 34: Average annual pension income in 2016 by household type as at 31 December 2016.

Interest and Investment Income

Actual income received from capital assets is not included in the Income Support calculation. This includes bank interest, share dividends and rental income (in some circumstances). However, the value of capital assets themselves is taken into account to produce a deemed' income in some cases (see Capital Assets on page 53).

Maintenance Payments

Following the breakdown of a relationship, maintenance may be paid for a child or ex-partner. In particular, if parents do not live together, the "absent" parent is expected to contribute towards the maintenance of their children. As of 1st January 2016, the allowance provided against maintenance income was increased to 23% in line with other sources of income. Just over half of claims that include a single adult and dependent children receive maintenance as part of the household income.

No. of Claims that Annualised average of % of all Households Household Type include Maintenance Maintenance Income receiving Maintenance Income per claim £ Income

65+ 10 3,120 1% Adult/s without children 57 2,488 3%

	Adults with child/ren	109	3,094	12%
Single adult with child/ren		535	2,768	52%
Total		711	2,801	12%

Table 35: Annualised average maintenance income by household type as at 31 December 2016.

Long-term Incapacity

Long-term incapacity allowance (LTIA) and invalidity benefit (INV) are contributory benefits for working age adults who have a loss of faculty. With effect from 1st January 2016, the 6% disregard for LTIA and INV income was removed. An estimate of the total annual income received by Income Support households from these two contributory benefits is £8.0 million.

No. of Claims that Annualised average of % of IS Households Household Type include INV / LTIA INV / LTIA Income per receiving INV / LTIA Income claim £ Income

65+ 69 5,274 4% Adult/s without children 987 6,291 43%

	Adults with child/ren	164	5,390	18%
Single adult with child/ren		124	4,287	12%
Total		1,344	5,944	23%

Table 36: Annualised average INV / LTIA income by household type as at 31 December 2016.

Other Income

Income Support households receive income from a variety of other sources, including Short Term Incapacity Allowance and income from lodgers. No allowance is provided against these types of income in the Income Support calculation.

An estimate of the total annual income received by Income Support households from other income is £2.7 million.

Charitable Income and Expense Payments

Income received from a charity and expenses paid in connection with voluntary work are not included in the Income Support calculation and do not affect the value of Income Support received.

and Tax Funded Se

Income by Household Type

Figure 25 – Figure 28 illustrate the relative weighting of different types of income on average, including Income Support, for each household type receiving Income Support as at 31 December 2016. Each figure identifies the value of income received by the household type, e.g. 52% of the total income received by 65+ households is in the form of pension income:

Figure 25: Type of income for 65+ Income Support households as at 31 December 2016.

Figure 27: Type of income for adults with child/ren' Income Support households as at 31 December 2016.

Figure 26: Type of income for adult/s without children' Income Support households as at 31 December 2016.

Figure 28: Type of income for single adult with child/ren' Income Support households as at 31 December 2016.

Households with no income other than Income Support

A minority of Income Support households do not have any other income. Typically, this could be due to unemployment, a single parent with a young child and no maintenance agreement in place, or an individual with a long-established medical condition who does not qualify for any contributory benefit.

Household Type No. of Claims Showing no Income on % of all Claims of this type

31 December 2016

65+ 15 1% Adult/s without children 543 24%

	Adults with child/ren	28	3%
Single adult with child/ren		128	12%
Total		714	12%

Table 37: Income Support households with no other income as at 31 December 2016.

Capital Assets

If an Income Support claimant owns their own home, the value of the property is completely exempt from the Income Support calculation. Other capital assets such as deposit accounts, stocks and shares up to a certain level are exempt from Income Support calculations. These levels are shown in Table 38. Claimants with capital assets above these levels can still receive Income Support but at a lower rate. Benefit is withdrawn at the rate of £1 per week for every £250 of capital assets above the exemption limit. This is achieved by adding a deemed' income of this amount to the claim.

Capital Exemption Type of Household

Amount £ Single person - aged 65 or over 13,706

Single person - with personal care component 13,706 Single person - other 9,137 Couple - aged 65 or over 22,718 Couple - at least one with personal care component 22,718 Couple - other 15,145

Table 38: Capital exemption limits as at 31 December 2016.

Table 39 details the number of households that have capital assets either above or below the relevant exemption limit:

No. of Claims No. of Claims % of all Claims of Household Type with Assets with Assets AvEexceragss Cape Valuital e of this type with

below Capital above Capital Capital Assets above Threshold £

Threshold Threshold above Threshold

65+

1,391

335

£10,859

19%

Adult/s without children 2,154 116 £8,960 5%

	Adults with child/ren	883	35	£10,466	4%
Single adult with child/ren		1,004	33	£10,381	3%
Total		5,432	519	£10,377	9%

Table 39: Capital assets by household type as at 31 December 2016.

Whilst almost 20% of 65+ households have some capital savings above the exemption limit, only around 4% of other households have savings above these levels.

Components

Income Support is designed to offer financial support for different day-to-day basic living costs. The amount of

Income Support that a household receives will depend on the composition of the household and their current

circumstances, such as household income and savings, ages, living arrangements, and any medical condition or

care needs of a member of the household. To provide support tailored to specific family circumstances, Income

Support is made up of a number of separate components to cover basic living costs, accommodation, childcare, and carer, medical and care costs. Tax Funded Se

Basic Components

Adult components

The value of the adult component at 31 December 2016 was £92.12 per week.

The adult component is available to each adult included on the claim who satisfies the five year residency condition. For Income Support purposes, an adult is someone aged above compulsory school leaving age. From 1 August 2012 new claimants who did not satisfy the residency condition no longer received the adult component. For existing claimants who did not satisfy the residency condition the adult component was no longer available after the end of 2012.

Young adults above compulsory school leaving age continue to be included within the household of their parents if they are:

Under 25 and actively seeking work (jobseeker).
Under 25 and in full-time education.

There are additional rules for young people with disabilities.

Lone parent component

As of 1 November 2015, the lone parent component is no longer available to new income support claims. For claims that were already receiving this component at that point, the value of the lone parent component decreased on 1st January 2016 from £132.51 per week to £122.43 and decreased again on 1st October 2016 to £112.35.

The lone parent component is available if there is a single adult on the claim and at least one child and these circumstances have not changed since 1 November 2015. In some circumstances the lone parent component is also paid if there is a second adult aged under 19 included on the claim. At the end of 2016 there were 135 claims in this category.[1]

Child component

The value of the child component at 31 December 2016 was £63.98 per week.

The child component is available for each child on the claim aged up to compulsory school leaving age.

As of 31 December 2016 there were 210 claims that included a child born in 2016. Household component

The value of the household component at 31 December 2016 was £51.31 per week.

The household component reflects the fixed costs of a household, regardless of the number of people living together. These include some specific items such as household insurance and the cost of a TV licence, together with more general costs such as energy, household maintenance etc. It is not paid to individuals who live with another household (for example, a young unemployed adult aged 25 or above who remains living with his or her parents).

Accommodation Components

Accommodation components are available to both tenants and owner occupiers. Since April 2014, the support provided for tenants reflects the policies approved by the States as part of the Housing Transformation programme. For private rented properties, maximum component levels are set for each size of unit and the component is only available up to this maximum level, regardless of the actual rent paid. If the rent paid is less than the maximum available, the component is set at the actual value of the rent. For social housing properties, the rent component reflects the actual rent paid in most cases. Owner occupiers have a smaller component available to assist with the cost of parish foncier (owner's) rates and building insurance. An accommodation component is not usually allocated to a claimant aged below 25. However, support is available in certain circumstances.

4% of Income Support claims were in respect of individuals living with other family members. These claimants do not receive accommodation or household components.

Table 40 shows the maximum weekly component available for each type of private dwelling as at 31 December 2016. Social housing rented property is paid according to the reasonable rent charge.

Owner Occupier rate £ Private Tenant Maximum rate £

Hostel N/A 100.10 Bedsit/Lodgings 6.37 131.88

	One-bed flat	6.37	194.46
One-bed house		6.37	222.88
	Two-bed flat	6.37	248.99
Two-bed house		9.03	283.01
	Three-bed flat	9.03	267.26
Three-bed house		12.74	330.54
	Four-bed flat	12.74	267.26
Four-bed house		12.74	360.29
	Five or more-bed flat	12.74	267.26
Five-bed house		12.74	398.86
	Six or more-bed house	12.74	398.86

Table 40: Weekly accommodation rates as at 31 December 2016.

and Tax Funded Se

Table 41 sets out the number of Income Support households by tenure and property type as at 31 December 2016.

Owner Andium Housing Private

Occupier Homes Rental Trust Rental Rental Other Total

Hostel 0 0 0 0 60 60 Bedsit/Lodgings 1 188 14 332 82 617

	One-bed flat	28	1,320	258	630	17	2,253
One-bed house		47	125	20	104	27	323
	Two-bed flat	6	562	120	368	5	1,061
Two-bed house		22	280	54	226	3	585
	3 or more-bed flat	2	29	14	19	0	64
Three-bed house		9	328	100	160	2	599
	Four-bed flat	0	0	1	0	0	1
Four-bed house		4	48	9	23	0	84
	5 or more-bed house	1	4	0	2	0	7
Other / None		0	0	0	4	293	297
Total		120	2,884	590	1,868	489	5,951

Table 41: Income Support claims by tenure and property types as at 31 December 2016.

At the end of 2016, over half of all Income Support households (58%) occupied an Andium Homes or Housing Trust rental property. 2% (120) of Income Support households were owner occupiers.

Medical Components

Income Support medical components are available to assist with costs as follows: personal care components (three levels) provide additional support for individuals who have difficulty undertaking basic daily activities; mobility components (two levels) provide support for those who have significant mobility problems outside the home; and clinical cost components (two levels) provide additional support for those who need a higher than average number of GP visits to monitor an ongoing medical condition. Individuals can be eligible for one or more components depending on their particular condition.

34% of claims (2,031 claims in total) had at least one medical component included as at 31 December 2015.

Table 42 shows the weekly value of these components at 31 December 2016:

Clinical Clinical Mobility Mobility Personal Personal Personal Medical

Cost Cost Non-Earner Earner Care Care Care Components

(CC1) (CC2) (MOB1) (MOB2) (PC1) (PC2) (PC3)

Weekly value £

3.15

6.30

22.96

45.92

22.96

101.15

145.25

Table 42: Medical component weekly rate value as at 31 December 2016.

Table 43 shows the number of medical components included on claims as at 31 December 2016. Note that one claim may appear in more than one column. An overall decrease in the number of Income Support claims along with ongoing reviews of mobility and clinical cost impairment components and the movement of individuals in receipt of a personal care component into Long-Term Care have contributed to a decrease in medical components across the board.

Clinical Clinical Mobility Mobility Personal Personal Personal Household Type Cost Cost Non-Earner Earner Care Care Care

(CC1) (CC2) (MOB1) (MOB2) (PC1) (PC2) (PC3)

65+ 386 451 485 2 210 171 119 Adult/s without children 307 355 369 16 180 139 186

	Adults with child/ren	63	58	67	3	33	9	10
Single adult with child/ren		49	73	45	0	39	7	0
Total		805	937	966	21	462	326	315

Table 43: Medical components by household type as at 31 December 2016.

Carer's Component

The carer's component is available to the main carer of an individual who has a significant disability (i.e. meets the requirements for the highest level of personal care component: PC3). The carer's component can be claimed by a carer of any age, and at 31 December 2016 had a value of £46.97 per week. The cared for person does not need to be living in the same household as the carer. There were 166 Income Support claims which included a carer's component as at 31 December 2016.

Child Care Component

The child care component is available to assist with the cost of registered childcare to allow a parent to return to employment. Two hourly rates are available depending on the age of the child.

As at 31 December 2016 the rates were: up to £6.59 per hour for children under 3 and up to £5.15 per hour for children aged between 3 and 11.

At the end of 2015, there were 236 Income Support claims which included a total of 304 child care components.

Overall Cost of Components

As the value of Income Support paid to a particular household depends not only on the mix of components that it is entitled to, but also on the other income received by the household, it is not straightforward to report on the value of each component in the total expenditure for Income Support.

However, to enable an analysis of the total cost to be undertaken, a method of allocating costs within the various

components has been developed. This method divides the actual Income Support benefit received by a household

in proportion to the gross value of each of the components that the household is eligible for, to allocate a specific

net value to each of the components. and Tax Funded Se

Whereas most of the analysis provided in this report is based on a detailed analysis of the Income Support claims in payment on the last day of 2016, in order to compare the total spend in 2016 across the range of components, it is necessary to examine expenditure throughout the year. The mix of claims changes over time and the values of some components were increased during the year. The following analysis includes data taken from each month of the year to ensure that trends in the take-up of Income Support and rate changes during the year are represented, and provides approximate net values for the cost of each component group.

Living Accommodation Other Total Household Type £000 £000 £000 £000

65+ 7,282 7,089 1,707 16,077 Adult/s without children 10,294 9,509 2,448 22,252

	Adults with child/ren	7,259	5,177	749	13,184
Single adult with child/ren		9,642	8,416	899	18,956
Total		34,477	30,190	5,802	70,469

Table 44: Analysis of net expenditure in 2016 by component and household type. Throughout this section, components have been grouped as follows:

Living: adult, child, lone parent and household components.
Accommodation: all accommodation components (tenants and owner occupiers).
Other: all medical components, carer, and childcare.

Figure 29: Distribution of 2016 net annual expenditure by component type.

Figure 30: Distribution of 2016 net annual expenditure by household type.

More than 50% of the net expenditure on accommodation components for Income Support households related to accommodation rented out by Andium Homes. Table 44 shows that in terms of rental expenditure, the majority of pensioner Income Support households are accommodated in social housing versus rental accommodation in the private sector, however the split is much more even for households made up of multiple adults and at least one child.

Adult/s without Adults with Single adult

£000 65+ Total

children child/ren with child/ren

Andium Homes 4,676 4,813 2,392 4,579 16,461 Other Trust Rental 859 800 673 998 3,330

	Private Rental			1,312			3,354			2,076			2,779	9,520
Other				231			535			34			55	856
	Owner Occupier			11			7			1			3	23
Total				7,089			9,509			5,177			8,416	30,190
able 45: Distribution of ac		c	o	mmodation net e	x	p	enditure (£000), b	y	h	ousehold and ten	u	r	e type, 2016.

Income Support: Special Payments

The weekly Income Support payments are designed to meet daily living costs. Income Support legislation also allows for larger one off costs to be met through special payment grants or loans. These cover a number of areas as shown in Table 46:

No. of No. of

Description Payments Payments Value £000

as Grants as Loans

Essential household equipment 1 245 141 Rental deposit 1 186 248

	Removal expenses	0	28	8
Medical expenses		1305	160	561
	Funerals	35	0	67
Loan repayment / Adjustment				(284)
Total		1342	619	741
Table 46: Special payments in 2016.

Income Support: Cold Weather Payments

Cold weather payments are made to selected Income Support households during the winter months. Cold weather payments are calculated for the months of October to April if the temperature drops below a certain level. Payments are made in arrears, i.e. October's payment is made in the first week of November.

The cold weather payment for a month is made to any household receiving Income Support that, for the whole of the month, includes one of the following:

someone over 65 years old,
a child under the age of 3, or
someone receiving personal care level 3 component.

In 2016, the following cold weather payments were made:

Total 2016 Jan Feb Mar Apr ... Oct Nov Dec

Value

Value £

47.14

43.55

46.85

26.01

0.00

25.33

42.51

231.39

Table 47: Monthly cold weather payment values in 2016.

In 2016, the total value of cold weather payments was £562,000 with an average (mean) of 2,413 households receiving a payment each month.

and Tax Funded Se

Income Support: Ministerial Exceptional Payments

The Income Support law provides a set of rules against which benefit decisions are made. Inevitably, from time to time an unusual situation will arise that is not covered by the standard rules and, in the event of an exceptional circumstance, the Minister has the power to make payments outside of the standard Income Support rules. Payments authorised under these powers in 2016 totalled £122,000; however, some payments may run across more than one calendar year. The cost of these payments is reported within the weekly Income Support costs.

Income Support: Child Personal Care Benefit

In September 2014 the States Assembly agreed to introduce a new benefit whereby parents of children who meet the requirements for the highest levels of the impairment award can receive a payment in respect of the child, independent of parental income.

This came into force for children with personal care level 3 awards on 17th September 2014 and was extended to children with personal care level 2 awards on 1st January 2015.

On 31st December 2016 there were 106 children with level 3 personal care needs receiving a child personal care benefit of £145.25 per week, and 59 children with level 2 personal care needs receiving a child personal care benefit of £101.15 per week, living in households that did not otherwise qualify for Income Support. A total of £1.0m was paid out in Child Personal Care Payments in 2015, an increase of £111,000 on 2015.[1] This value is reflected as part of the total for Income Support: Weekly Benefit shown in Table 23.

Tax Funded Benefits – Christmas Bonus

The Christmas Bonus is a lump sum benefit of £84.87 (in 2016) that is paid in December to:

people aged 65 or over who, in November 2016, were:
- members of the 65+ Health Plan and / or
- receiving Income Support
members of Income Support households who in November 2016:

had a significant disability and received the personal care impairment component level two or three
were full-time informal carers and received the carer's component of Income Support

people who claimed Long-Term Care and who received means-tested support with their living expenses in November 2016

The States Assembly agreed to annul the previous Christmas Bonus Law in 2015 and the December 2015 payment was the final amount paid under that Law. New legislation is now in place and the total Christmas Bonus cost for 2016 was £396,000, supporting these targeted groups.

Tax Funded Benefits – Food Costs Bonus

The States Assembly agreed a three year renewal of the Food Costs Bonus during 2016. This Bonus is payable to any household that has an income too high to qualify for Income Support but too low to pay Income Tax. Only one Food Costs Bonus may be claimed per household and at least one member of the household must have been resident in Jersey for at least five years.

The Food Costs Bonus is an annual payment - £226.95 in 2016 - to help households with the cost of food and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) that is charged on food. In 2016, a total of 1,164 households received the Food Cost Bonus, of which 47 were for 2015, with a total payment for 2016 of £260,000.

Tax Funded Benefits – Cold Weather Bonus

The Cold Weather Bonus is based on the monthly Cold Weather Payments made to Income Support claimants - £231.39 in total for 2016. The Bonus extends eligibility to lower income households that do not pay tax and where at least one adult aged 65 years or over is receiving a Jersey old-age pension or has been living in Jersey for at least 10 years.

Using the same method as the Income Support Cold Weather Payment, the Bonus is designed to help pensioner households with the cost of heating during the winter months. The Bonus is paid in two instalments; once in May, for the months January to April, and then again in January, for the months of October to December.

and In 2016, 1,086 households received a Bonus for the months January to April and 1,004 received a Bonus for the Tax Funded Se

months October to December. The total amount paid in 2016 was £227,000.

Tax Funded Benefits – 65+ Health Scheme

The Jersey 65+ Health Scheme subsidises dental, optical and chiropody costs and is available to those pensioners who do not pay income tax and have relatively low savings. In 2016 the Scheme provided the following benefits:

Optical

every 2 years, up to £15 towards an eye test.
every 2 years, up to £90 towards new prescription spectacles, lenses or contact lenses.

Dental

every year, up to £22 towards a dental check-up.
every year, up to £250 towards dental treatments or dentures.

Chiropody

every year, up to £90 towards the cost of chiropody treatment from a HCPC registered chiropodist.

As of 31st December 2016 there were 2,970 pensioners registered under the scheme, 4,237 claims at a total cost of £223,000 exclusive of management fees.

In July 2016, the States agreed to replace the 65+ Health Scheme with the Pension Plus scheme as of 1 January 2017. The Pension Plus scheme will provide similar but increased health benefits to low income pensioners who do not pay income tax and have relatively low savings. The Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) allocated an additional £200,000 to the scheme allowing an increase in benefit.

Tax Funded Benefits – 75+ TV Licence Benefit

Those who are over 75 years old and have an annual income that is below £16,070 for single pensioners and £26,170 for pensioner couples, and fulfil certain other criteria, qualify for a payment equivalent to the cost of a full TV licence.

In 2016, nearly all the 1,902 people claiming the TV Licence Benefit received the full amount of £145.50 at a total cost of £275,000.

Tax Funded Benefits – other benefits

In 2016 there were four other benefits funded from taxation:

The Jersey Dental Fitness Scheme is available to help towards the cost of dental treatment for young people between the ages of 11 and 21 dependent on the existing health of their teeth and family income.
Childcare Support provides limited support with childcare costs for low income working parents whose children were born in Jersey but who do not qualify for Income Support on residency grounds. This scheme is now closed to new entrants.
Housing Adaptation Grants are made to assist those living in privately owned or rented accommodation to make adaptations to their property that will enable them to continue living independently at home where they have a particular clinical need, as assessed by the occupational therapy team.
Non-Contributory Death Grants are made where the deceased has not made sufficient contributions but was Jersey born and has been ordinarily resident in the Island for the 12 months prior to the date of his/her death; or if not Jersey born, have been ordinarily resident in the Island for a total period of at least 12 years at any time before death. Death Grants for those with sufficient contributions are funded from the Social Security Fund.

The table below shows the total value paid for each benefit in 2015 and 2016:

2015 2016 Benefit

£000 £000 Dental Fitness Scheme 79 102 Childcare Support 26 7

	Housing Adaptation Grants	36	8
Non-Contributory Death Grants		17	24
	Youth Incentive Payments [1]	17	0
Total		175	142

Table 48: Total value of other benefits administered using tax funding for 2015 and 2016.

and Tax Funded Se

Departmental Administration Costs

The following table shows all of the costs not displayed on the previous pages which contribute to the total gross expenditure of £494.5 million for 2016.

2015 2016 £000 £000

Income (1,090) (1,691) Staff Costs 13,243 12,053 Non-Staff Costs 19,417 20,988 Total Administration Costs 31,570 31,350

Table 49: Social Security Department administration costs, 2015 and 2016.

Appendix: Summary of legislation approved or amended in 2016

Ref. Link Notes Made/approved Coming into

force

R & O-162 INCOME SUPPORT Follows on from 18 December 2015 01 January 2016 -2015 (GENERAL Amendment No. 18 Regulation 1 ;

PROVISIONS) and clarifies the 19 December (AMENDMENT NO. treatment of pension 2015 - 19) (JERSEY) ORDER income for the partner remainder 2015 of a pensioner who

reaches pension age

from 1 January 2016.

R & 0 – LONG-TERM CARE Increases the daily rate 18 December 2015 01 January 2016 163-2015 (BENEFITS) for each benefit and

(AMENDMENT NO. care cost cap in line 2) (JERSEY) ORDER with the increase in 2015 average earnings for

2015.

L-02-2016 EMPLOYMENT Clarifies the procedure 01 December 2015 20 February

(AMENDMENT for the making of 2016

NO.9) (JERSEY)LAW appeals to the Royal

2016 Court against decisions

of the Jersey

Employment and

Discrimination Tribunal.

L-20-2016 EMPLOYMENT Employment protection 25 May 2016 28 October (AMENDMENT for reservists and new 2016 in part:

NO.10) compensation awards remainder in

(JERSEY)LAW 2016 from 1 April 2017. force 01 April 2017

Removal of the two-

thirds rule from 28

October 2016.

L-27-2016 HEALTH Introduces a new class of 12 July 2016 02 December

INSURANCE prescriber, able to issue 2016 (except (AMENDMENT community prescriptions Article 16) NO.15) from the Health

(JERSEY)LAW 2016 Insurance Fund.

R & O - 10- EMPLOYMENT AND Sets out statutory 29 January 2016 1 April 2016 2016 DISCRIMINATION procedures in relation

TRIBUNAL to Tribunal hearings.

(PROCEDURE)

ORDER 2016

R & O – HEALTH AND New Regulations to 2 February 2016 1 October 2016 13-2016 SAFETY improve Health and

(MANAGEMENT IN Safety in the

CONSTRUCTION) construction industry.

(JERSEY)

REGULATIONS 2016

R & O – DISCRIMINATION Makes an amendment 24 May 2016 1 September 58-2016 (AGE) (JERSEY) to the Discrimination 2016, except

REGULATIONS 2016 Law to introduce Regulation 6(2)

protection against in force 1 discrimination on the September grounds of age 2018)

R & O – INCOME SUPPORT Increases the standard 12 July 2016 1 October 2016 76-2016 (AMENDMENT NO. hourly rate at which

14) (JERSEY) child day care is paid REGULATIONS 2016 through Income

Support and the

accommodation

component available to

owner occupiers and

tenants renting in the

private sector

R & O – INCOME SUPPORT Extends the criteria for 12 July 2016 19 July 2016 77-2016 (SPECIAL receiving a special

PAYMENTS) payment to include

(AMENDMENT NO. those households who 2) (JERSEY) qualify for means- REGULATIONS 2016 tested assistance

towards the costs of

their long term care.

R & O – SOCIAL SECURITY A new scheme to replace 12 July 2016 1 January 2017 78-2016 (HEALTH BONUS the 65+ health plan and

SCHEME) (JERSEY) help lower-income

REGULATIONS 2016 pensioners with the routin

costs of fundamental areas

of healthcare.

R & O – INCOME SUPPORT Re-introduction of a 11 October 2016 18 October 106-2016 (SPECIAL targeted Christmas 2016

PAYMENTS) Bonus to vulnerable

(CHRISTMAS low-income households

BONUS) (JERSEY) who rely on income

REGULATIONS 2016 support. This covers

pensioners, people with

a significant disability

and full time informal

carers.

R & O – SOCIAL SECURITY Re-introduction of a 11 October 2016 18 October 107 - 2016 (CHRISTMAS Christmas Bonus to 2016

BONUS) (JERSEY) pensioners, who do not

REGULATIONS 2016 qualify for Income

Support but have

limited income and

savings

R & O – FOOD COSTS Renew existing triennial 11 October 2016 1 July 2017 108 - 2016 BONUS (JERSEY) regulations.

REGULATIONS 2016 Minor amendments to

the method of

providing for an agent

to act on behalf of the

claimant and details of

the appeal mechanism to the Royal Court

R & O –

EMPLOYMENT (MINIMUM WAGE) (AMENDMENT NO.

10) (JERSEY) ORDER 2016

Increases the minimum wage and trainee rates.

13 October 2016

1 April 2017

110 -2016

R & O -123 EMPLOYMENT Increases the maximum 30 November 2016 1 April 2017

- 2016 (MINIMUM WAGE) amounts that may be

(AMENDMENT NO. offset against minimum 13) (JERSEY) wage pay where the REGULATIONS 2016 employer provides

accommodation and

meals.

R & O – SOCIAL SECURITY Sets out the value of 16 December 2016 16 December 131 - 2016 (CHRISTMAS the Christmas Bonus for 2016

BONUS 2016) 2016.

(JERSEY)

ORDER 2016

R & O – SOCIAL SECURITY Administrative details 23 December 2016 1January 2017 141 - 2016 (HEALTH BONUS and benefit rates for

SCHEME) (JERSEY) Pension Plus Scheme -

ORDER 2016 supporting dental,

optical and chiropody

costs for lower income

pensioners

Social Security Department PO Box 55

Philip Le Feuvre House

La Motte Street

St Helier, JE3 8PE

Telephone: +44 (0)1534 445505 Fax: +44 (0)1534 445525 www.gov.je

Social Security Department: Minister’s Report 2016