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20.11.02
8 The Connétable of St. Martin of the Chief Minister regarding Government support
to charities providing vital services to Islanders (OQ.302/2020)
Will the Chief Minister advise what additional financial support, if any, will be given to charities that provide vital services to Islanders (particularly in the medical and social services sectors) in order that redundancies are minimised; and will any such support be available until the charities are able to support themselves at pre-COVID levels?
Senator J.A.N. Le Fondré (The Chief Minister):
Pretty obviously, charities play a vital role in the Island and especially so during the whole difficult pandemic period which we are still in. Charities have also been hit to reduced incomes from donations and many are also employers. The Council of Ministers did recognise this and we ensured that charities were included in the co-funded payroll scheme from April. In phase 2, 31 charities have accessed £909,000 supporting over 200 employees and phase 3 of the scheme continues until the end of March and charities remain included. Now, as we have seen from today's announcement of the winter strategy, this pandemic is far from over, so therefore we are going to be regularly reviewing the support we offer to charities, as well as for other sectors, to tailor our response as required to support Islanders and businesses as best we can. We are going to monitor that situation and we work very closely with the Association of Jersey Charities and others to keep the situation under review.
[15:15]
Finally, in addition, there is the Jersey Community Foundation, which is an independent Jersey charity which has been established by the Jersey Finance Group at the request of the Government to co-ordinate and deliver financial aid and support for those most in need in Jersey. In the short term, their priority has been to distribute dormant bank account funds released by the Government of Jersey to assist local charities supporting the community at this time of the COVID-19 pandemic and during its aftermath and, so far, £200,000 has been distributed.