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Chair, Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel States Greffe
Morier House
St Helier
JE1 1DD
25th March 2022 Dear Senator Moore ,
Corporate Services Scrutiny Panel COVID Response & Recovery Review: Co-Funded Payroll Scheme Repayment
Thank you for your letter of 11th March 2022 regarding the audit of claims for the Co-Funded Payroll Scheme (CFPS). As this scheme is the political responsibility of the Treasury Minister, I refer you in the first instance to her response on the same issue dated 23rd March.
I concur that the Co-Funded Payroll Scheme (CFPS) has played an important role in protecting Islanders' livelihoods and averting business failures during the pandemic. At its peak it supported over 15,000 people and 4,100 businesses providing one of the highest levels of support compared to subsidy scheme in many other jurisdictions. This is particularly the case for the self-employed islanders, who were treated the same as employed workers.
The team at Customer and Local Services (CLS) have been asked to notify all business that have not yet agreed a suitable repayment plan that it will be possible for repayment to be made over two years. In addition, the need for a case-by-case approach to repayments has been highlighted to assist businesses that are already affected by the impact of the protracted downturn in trading caused by the pandemic.
In most cases, the default period of two years represents a reasonable timescale for repayments. The median repayment required is less than £1,600 and more than 80% of repayments are for less than £5,000.
For businesses that face higher repayments and specific issues, the case-by-case approach considers affordability and allows up to five years to repay where the customer can demonstrate to us that a two-year repayment period might cause financial hardship.
I am acutely conscious of the unprecedented hardship and uncertainty that has been faced by many businesses over the past two years. I therefore support extending repayment periods still further where it is necessary to support businesses and prevent the loss of islanders' jobs.
Yours sincerely,
Senator Lyndon Farnham
Deputy Chief Minister | Chair of Our Hospital Political Oversight Group | Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture
19-21 Broad Street | St Helier | Jersey | JE2 3RR | l.farnham@gov.je