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WQ.181/2020
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE
MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TOURISM, SPORT AND CULTURE BY DEPUTY I. GARDINER OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 12th MAY 2020
Question
Will the Minister advise –
- whether there are any plans by the Government to facilitate arrangements for labour to be brought to the Island or whether Government policy is to ensure reliance upon the redeployment of workers already based in Jersey; and
- whether the Government has any statistics on the redeployment of such locally-based workers to essential areas of employment (such as agriculture and care homes) and, if so, will he provide those statistics?
Answer
- In the short term, movement to and from the island is severely restricted. The Safe Exit Framework published by the Government sets out the control of off-island travel as follows:
Level 4: People should not travel on and off island unless essential (for example, for essential work, medical or compassionate grounds). Upon arrival into Jersey, people must isolate for 14 days unless government permission granted.
Level 3: People should not travel on and off island unless essential (for example, for essential work, medical or compassionate grounds). Upon arrival into Jersey, people must isolate for 14 days unless government permission granted.
Level 2: People are permitted to travel on and off island as and when commercial travel becomes available. Requirement to isolate upon arrival will be reviewed.
Level 1: People are permitted to travel on and off-island. Requirement to isolate upon arrival will depend on risk level in the origin people have travelled from.
On Monday 11 May, the Island moved from Level 4 to Level 3. The only labour being brought to the island at present will be for specialist roles which are essential and cannot be filled on island. The Safe Exit Framework is likely to be in place for several months and it is not possible to forecast when restrictions will be lifted. During this period the local labour force will be used as flexibly as possible to support all areas of the economy.
For example, the Back To Work team is helping people into temporary work and is preparing to match people to permanent jobs when roles start becoming available again. Advisors are liaising with all Actively Seeking Work (ASW) customers to make sure they have up to date CVs, and are working with businesses to make sure the Government is aware of vacancies in order to match candidates to them. Employers can submit their job vacancies online at gov.je. The new ASW candidates are naturally very employable, having been in work until very recently. 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 Business Payroll Co-funding scheme, which was opened for claims on 1st May.
Back To Work services have also been extended to individuals with less than five years residency as part of the temporary CRESS scheme established at the beginning of April by the Minister for Social Security. This scheme supports registered workers who have been made redundant due to Covid 19.
In addition, the Chief Minister made the Control of Housing and Work (Exemptions) (Covid-19 – Temporary Amendment) (Jersey) Order 2020 under Article 27(3) of the Law 2012 on 17 April. This provides additional flexibility within the labour force by allowing any registered or licensed worker to provide temporary cover for up to three months until 30th September 2020 for a worker who has left Jersey due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
Looking forward, a new work stream is under way to look at all aspects of the Island's economic recovery post-Covid19 and this will include employment issues and the balance of the workforce. This is in its early stages so plans are not yet formulated.
- Government statistics are not available on the redeployment of locally-based staff during the Covid-19 period. The government is aware that there have been a number of initiatives by local businesses and agencies to quickly and seamlessly redeploy staff, particularly between the hospitality and retail sectors.
The government does publish a Biannual Labour Market report which provides details on the total number of workers per sector. This report is available at: https://www.gov.je/Government/JerseyInFigures/EmploymentEarnings/pages/labourmarket.aspx. Data is collected at the end of December and June. Temporary redeployments of staff between those two dates will not be captured by the report.