A total of £1.1 million has already been paid out from the scheme, under which the government pays 80% of staff wages for up to a maximum of £1,600 per month per person for eligible firms, with the business paying the rest.
Employers and self-employed workers are entitled to the subsidy during April, May and June.
At a press conference on Thursday evening, Economic Development Minister Lyndon Farnham and Assistant Treasury Minister Ian Gorst announced a revised scheme which would provide the support to previously excluded sectors.
‘In short, the scheme is now very wide – and now only excludes a handful of the sectors that are most likely to withstand the crisis without support,’ said Senator Farnham. ‘We have also relaxed the test for inclusion, requiring businesses to show only a 30% loss in turnover to qualify.
‘This makes Jersey’s scheme among the most generous in the world, on a level with that offered by the Government of New Zealand.’
Senator Gorst said that the lockdown, which was declared on 30 March, had affected far more businesses than the previous social-distancing measures.
‘With the extra inclusions in this scheme, this takes the total cost of the scheme for three months up to £140 million,’ he said. ‘But we in Treasury have budgeted not only for those three months but also for a potential extension of two months.
‘That would take the scheme’s cost up to £280 million.’
Senator Gorst added that once the crisis is over the government would like to replenish the Strategic Reserve, nicknamed the Rainy Day Fund, which has been used to help fund the business support measures.
He said that this would involve ‘difficult decisions’ being made.
The revised scheme extends coverage to air transport, private waste disposal, freight transport, media activities, advertising and design agencies, digital businesses, estate agencies, recruitment agents, vets, architects, local legal and accountancy practices and security firms.
