New support measures announced for businesses in Jersey
The Government of Jersey has announced new business support measures to provide further help following the closure of the hospitality industry and new coronavirus measures last week.
The Co-Funded Payroll Scheme (CFPS) and the Visitor Accommodation Support Scheme have both been revised to provide more financial help, which will particularly benefit the hospitality sector.
An additional scheme has been launched to support the island’s key visitor attractions and events companies.
The new measures came into effect on Friday 4 December and require all licensed hospitality venues, gyms and indoor sports and fitness classes to close. Two-metre physical distancing regulations have also been reintroduced.
The CFPS was launched in April to support businesses and employees during the pandemic to help safeguard jobs.
To qualify for the CFPS, businesses must demonstrate a loss in income compared to the same period last year. The support is tailored to a business’s financial detriment.
The updated scheme increases the maximum subsidy from 60% to 80%. It also offers 10% more support than the previous version of the scheme.
As part of the revised scheme, businesses are not required to remain open in order to claim a subsidy, although they are encouraged to continue to trade if they can do so safely within public health guidance.
In future, businesses that fail to follow public health guidance would be disqualified from claiming future Government support. This is to incentivise businesses to implement robust Covid-secure procedures.
The revised scheme will apply to claims made for December and will open from 1 January. To apply, businesses need to be in an eligible sector, and be able to demonstrate at least a 20% financial detriment.
An amendment to the Visitor Accommodation Scheme (VASS) has also been agreed, which will allow businesses to apply for support when they can demonstrate a 30% drop in turnover, rather than 50%. The scheme will continue to provide support of up to 80% of designated fixed costs, paid monthly in arrears, but it has been adjusted to allow accrued costs to be included.
An additional scheme will also be made available to visitor attractions and events businesses; the Attractions an Events and Support Scheme. Qualifying businesses will be eligible for a subsidy that meets up to 80% of their designated fixed costs incurred over the winter period (October 2020 to end of April 2021). The subsidy will be paid to applicants who can show a 50% reduction in turnover in the last year, when compared to the monthly average turnover in 2019.
Applications for the Attractions and Events Scheme will open this week and information on how to apply will be available on the Government of Jersey website.