Back to work schemes

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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BY THE DEPUTY OF ST. JOHN

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 22nd MARCH 2016

Question

Given the various schemes in place to enable people back to work, could the Minister provide:

• the difference in employment figures each year from 2008 to 2015;
• the number of people working in Jersey each year from 2008 to 2015;
• the number of people obtaining sustained employment through Back to Work schemes;
• the amount of funding used for such initiatives from 2008 to 2015;
• the amount of funding provided to businesses for such initiatives from 2008 to 2015?

Answer

The number of people working in Jersey each year and the difference from year to year is published in the 6 monthly Labour Market reports. The most recent report contains this information in Appendix A1 and can be found here: http://www.gov.je/SiteCollectionDocuments/Government%20and%20administration/R%20Jersey%20La bour%20Market%20June%202015%2020151013%20SU.pdf

Between the January 2012 (when Back to Work started as a programme) and the end of March 2015*, 5,669 job starts were supported by Back to Work. Of these job starts, 2,497 were for permanent positions. 73% of the permanent roles matching contributions data were sustained for more than 6 months (which is a common national benchmark period for sustainability).

The Back to Work programme started in 2012. Advance to Work and Advance Plus, which are now a significant part of Back to Work, were part of the Education, Sport and Culture Department until September 2012 and therefore the funding below excludes these initiatives until they joined Social Security.

Funding provided to businesses in terms of incentives to hire people who were Actively Seeking Work began in 2013.

These grants cover a number of initiatives including:

• Employment Incentive: 6 months' salary at minimum wage for an employer who hires a long term unemployed jobseeker** into a permanent role
• Community Jobs Fund: up to 6 months' salary at minimum wage for an employer who hires a long term unemployed jobseeker**, into a role that provides community benefit
• JobsFest: runs in October and November. Up to 8-weeks' salary at minimum wage for an employer who hires a jobseeker who has been unemployed since January of that year

• Hospitality Paid Training: 4 weeks' salary at minimum wage for jobseekers being trained into a hospitality role (Previously this was a Hospitality Incentive, up to 8 weeks salary at minimum wage, but not necessarily with a training period from the employer)
• Construction Paid Training: up to 12 weeks' salary at minimum wage for jobseekers being trained into a construction role
• Youth Incentive (ended May 2015 replaced by Employment Incentive): 6 months' salary at minimum wage for an employer who hired a long term unemployed jobseeker (6 months unemployed) who is aged under 25, into a permanent role
• Employment Grant (ended May 2015 replaced by Employment Incentive): up to £7,200 for an employer who hired a long term unemployed jobseeker on a long term or permanent contract.

All incentive payments are calculated at minimum wage plus employer Social Security contributions

These initiatives have been successful at targeting support to groups who have barriers to employment (such as their age or duration of unemployment) – and incentivising employers to give candidates a chance, who without financial support, they may not otherwise have considered.

Note:

*Analysis for sustainability comes from Contributions data, which is collected up to 3 months in arrears. The last complete data set is for July to September (C Quarter) 2015. A job is considered to have sustained at 6 months, and therefore job starts up to 31st March 2015 have been included in this analysis.

**For the purposes of these incentives, as well as individuals who have been ASW for 1 year or more, young people under the age of 25 who have been unemployed for over 6 months qualify when recruited.