Inward investment businesses

17

1240/5(8900)

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY DEPUTY M.R. HIGGINS OF ST. HELIER

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 14th JULY 2015

Question

Further to the Minister's written answer to question 1240/5(8869) asked on 23rd June 2015 regarding the 150 inward investment businesses that were trading and employing staff up to the end of December 2014, will the Minister set out for members a detailed breakdown of:

1. the nature of the 150 businesses, setting out what they do and jurisdictions they operate in;
2. the 1,319 jobs that were created, categorizing them into administrative, scientific, operational, professional etc. so that the purpose of the jobs and their contribution to the Jersey economy can be ascertained;
3. a breakdown of the 18% of the jobs that were filled by non-locally qualified people so that any skills lacking in the local jobs market can be identified;
4. what oversight there is, if any, to ensure that the firms or individuals comply with conditions, such as employment conditions, or any other such conditions, which are laid down by authorities in Jersey before their arrival in the Island?

Answer

1. Approved businesses are recorded by sector and the details are in the table below. Details are not held  regarding  any  other  jurisdictions  the  business  may  operate  in  although  it  is  taken  into consideration as part of the application process.

2. Whilst a business may indicate in its application the specific roles it intends to create, enabling an assessment to be made as their benefit to Island, the business license does not stipulate job types and the business is free to create whatever types and level of roles it requires as dictated by the demands of the business. The numbers of jobs filled are then reported as part of the 6 monthly manpower return by business, but not broken down by the types of jobs that are filled (which would be onerous on the businesses).
3. Of the 18%, 121 are licensed positions granted to inward investment businesses where the principal or senior Directors relocated with the business as staff self-evidently essential to the business. The other 117 are registered staff with nearly half being in the retail sector. Where a business requires skilled staff for a particular role they are referred to the Employer Engagement Team within Social Security Department (SSD) in the first instance. If all local recruitment options have been exhausted then a business can apply for a non-locally qualified post but they must evidence all unsuccessful recruitment activity undertaken prior to any consideration. Skills gaps in the local market can be identified through this process by both SSD and the Housing & Work Advisory Group (HAWAG).
4. A business license is likely to be issued subject to one or more of the following conditions:

- Time limitation for non-locally qualified posts;

- Ability to either lease or purchase a property (licensed consents);

- Maintaining regulation by the JFSC (where appropriate);

- Performance of the business against targets set out in their business plan (for licensed consents).

Oversight of these conditions is the responsibility of the Population Office in terms of compliance with the licence conditions. Locate Jersey maintain an ongoing relationship with businesses that move to the island and continue to monitor performance against the business plan submitted against their application identifying support where required.