SMALL-business owners who have been told to repay money given to them by the government to survive the pandemic are urging the Treasury Minister to ‘do the right thing’ and follow an official recommendation to reduce the amounts demanded.
The States of Jersey Complaints Board recently upheld a formal grievance by sole trader Natalie Mayer, after she was told to pay back money given to her as part of the Covid-related Co-Funded Payroll Scheme.
While praising the speed and effectiveness of the scheme, the independent board concluded that the treatment that Ms Mayer and others in a similar position received ‘had been contrary to the generally accepted principles of natural justice’.
Simon Nash provides advice for small businesses and is supporting 48 of the 300-or-so sole traders asked to repay money after they were not given any clarity from government on what ‘monthly gross income’ meant on the scheme’s claim form.
Mr Nash said: ‘We are waiting to see if [Treasury Minister] Deputy Ian Gorst follows the recommendation of the board and agrees to reduce the amount of money the government is asking for…We hope he does the right thing.’
He added: ‘We do not agree with the government’s narrative that the money was overpaid or mis-paid. There was no fraud here; these was honest, hard-working Islanders who answered all questions of them faithfully and received money which helped some – but not all of them – survive the pandemic.
‘These businesses don’t believe they were overpaid in the first place.
‘These are people who have never been in debt in their lives. Their treatment has been utterly shameful.’
The board not only found that the scheme was poorly communicated but also that it should have been better ‘road-tested’ before it was introduced, and the Treasury used the threat of legal action too soon when it judged someone had been overpaid.
The board stated: ‘Within the context of the scheme, Ms Mayer did receive more money than the amount to which she was entitled and she should be required to make a repayment.
‘However, the board feels that there should be an acknowledgement by the department that she did not understand what figures she was required to submit as it had missed the opportunity to help her understand.
‘Accordingly, the department should accept some responsibility and the board suggests that an ex-gratia reduction in the repayment amount sought from the complainant should be forthcoming.’
Mr Nash said: ‘If it had been made clear that this was a loan or advance, people may have acted differently; but this was survival money which was claimed in good faith and spent in order to stay in business.
‘They answered all the questions asked of them but often the civil servants did not ask the right questions.
‘When it came to gross income, people were giving the right answers to the wrong questions, and whose fault is that?
‘All this money was spent to keep these businesses alive. Remember, the maximum amount that could be claimed was £1,600 a month. When you think about the cost of rent and other expenses, these were not high rollers. On the contrary, the payments kept businesses alive.
‘No one set out to defraud the government.’
Assistant Chief Minister Andy Jehan said: ‘Reflecting on the panel’s suggestion that ex gratia reductions should be made to the amount owed by the complainant in this case, we are acutely conscious of the need to balance the interests of those like the complainant and the interests of other business owners – some of whom may be direct competitors – who understood the rules and claimed as the scheme intended.
‘We will take the necessary time to carefully consider the findings of the report to ensure that similar schemes are implemented even more effectively going forward.
Like Ms Mayer, small business owner Sophie Walton claimed Co-Funded Payroll support and was subsequently asked to repay money.
She said: ‘I’m absolutely delighted that the complaints board have acknowledged that the Treasury Department has made a mistake and that the businesses applying should have been treated case by case.
‘We can only hope that now the Treasury Minister will seek to enforce the ex gratia recommendation and finally give the individuals affected by this some financial and mental stress relief.’
