Community Cost Bonus

WQ.242/2022

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY

BY DEPUTY R.S. KOVACS OF ST. SAVIOUR

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 24th OCTOBER 2022 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 31st OCTOBER 2022

Question

Will the Minister advise the following in relation to the Community Cost Bonus –

1. the current yearly estimated total cost of the Bonus for 2023-2026, including the pre-Mini-Budget numbers of eligible households and the new additional 14,000 eligible through the Mini-Budget, as amended;
2. the total number of eligible households per year since the Bonus was introduced (including when it was previously titled the Food Cost Bonus) and the number of approved applicants from each of the schemes;
3. how many applications has the Department received so far this year, how many of that total have been approved and how many of those were received and approved since 2nd August 2022 to present?
4. the amount spent on advertising this campaign to date and the amount allocated this year for any further advertising?

Answer

1. The estimated total cost of the Community Costs Bonus for 2022 (inclusive of the amended mini- budget measures) is £6.5million. This figure is based on actual and expected spend for the 2022 Bonus.

The  current  regulations  expire  at  the  end  of  2022.  The  Minister  will  be  bringing  forward proposals in 2023 to replace the CCB, however it is too early to estimate the total costs of any new benefit.

2. The department does not hold data on the total number of eligible households per year since the Bonus was introduced. The estimate of a potential maximum of 14,000 households for 2022 came from  a  combination  of  current  data  supplied  by  Revenue  Jersey and  Customer  and  Local Services.

The number of approved applications since the Bonus first launched are as follows: Count/Claim  Average Amount (Standard

Payment Year  Total Amount

Households  Rate)

2008  2144  £107,200.00  £50.00 2009  1737  £260,550.00  £150.00 2010  1347  £206,899.20  £153.60 2011  1415  £273,604.40  £193.36 2012  1392  £303,957.12  £218.36 2013  1404  £310,255.92  £220.98 2014  1306  £296,396.70  £226.95 2015  1263  £286,637.85  £226.95 2016  1153  £261,673.35  £226.95

2017  1128 2018  1123 2019  1096 2020  919 2021  931

£255,999.60  £226.95 £254,864.85  £226.95 £248,737.20  £226.95 £237,331.75  £258.25 £240,430.75  £258.25

Please see notes below:

Payment year is best described as the calendar year in which applications opened and aligns best with the years described in the legislation. Since 2014, the benefit was open for applications from October until the end of June the following year, with the majority of payments being made in October. These household claims would be made based on tax liability in the previous calendar year. For example, applications for the 2021 CCB payment year were open from 1st October 2021 to 30th June 2022, in respect of liability in the 2020 tax year. The rate described in legislation for 2021 is £258.25.

For earlier years in the benefit, applications were opened earlier in the year, however this did not allow sufficient time for a consistent assessment of liability on the same tax year, the tax assessment deadline traditionally being the end of May and so many people would be assessed on the year before (i.e. 2007 liability for application in early 2009).

Count Claim Households details how many households were attributed to the payment year and the total amount is the amount paid in respect of these claims. Accounting figures are published in terms of money paid out in the calendar year and will also be subject to accruals and accounting adjustments. The totals in the above table therefore differ from year end accounting totals.

3. In respect of the Community Costs Bonus for 2022, Customer and Local Services has received over 3300 applications to date; the exact number increases daily. Of these, over 800 have been approved and paid, all of those were received (and approved) since the scheme opened on 1st September 2022.
4. Not all elements of the advertising campaign (which was launched as part of the mini-budget) have required the use of the additional budget. However, to date £10,550 of a total budget of £11,500 has been spent on the advertising campaign. It is expected that the full value of the allocated budget will be used for the campaign.