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WQ.180/2020
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BY DEPUTY I. GARDINER OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 12th MAY 2020
Question
"Will the Minister advise the Assembly of the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the Income Support scheme, including –
- the rate and number of applications;
- the number of people being supported;
- the amount being granted under the scheme;
- numbers and employability ratings of applicants with specific respect to the Back to Work scheme, taking into account underlying health conditions; and
- whether there is any mechanism in place to allow for the reassessment of the health conditions and employability status of applicants and, if not, whether there are any plans to introduce such a mechanism?"
Answer
Information on the volume of Income Support open claims and number of people supported is being published weekly by Statistics Jersey as part of a regular update of key economic indicators (link). Income Support claims were as follows:
Reporting date | Total open claims | Difference in open claim volume | Total adults supported | Total children supported |
February 29th 2020 | 5620 |
| 7060 | 3130 |
March 31st 2020 | 5710 | +90 | 7190 | 3160 |
May 3rd 2020 | 6480 | +770 | 8320 | 3400 |
New and existing Income Support claims are all paid based on the same set of component rates, which are published on gov.je (link). For example, a couple with one child living in an Andium flat could be entitled to £262.71 per week plus their rent, if both adults were out of work.
Recent Actively Seeking Work figures are also included in the Statistics Jersey report. These include:
Reporting date | Total ASW |
March 29th 2020 | 960 |
April 19th 2020 | 1830 |
May 3rd 2020 | 2520 |
The employability of candidates now registered with Back to Work is high, given that all those who have recently registered have been successfully in work, and only find themselves unfortunately registered as actively seeking work due to the circumstances of Covid19. A high proportion of candidates have expressed confidence that their previous employer would re-hire them when circumstances allow; this is borne out by an increasing number of new claims being closed as the employer takes advantage of phase 2 of the Co-Funded Payroll Scheme which opened on 1st May. We are supporting candidates in these difficult times to ensure they are ready to job seek as the employment market opens up, through having an
up to date CV and also matching them with vacancies to take on both temporary work and longer term work. All candidates are having a 1:1 discussion with an Employment Advisor where health conditions can be discussed, and an understanding gained of what might be possible from a work perspective, in line with Public Health guidance.