Covid: Jersey payroll scheme pays out £81m in six months

Jersey's co-funded payroll scheme paid out £81m between March and August 2020 to about one-third of the island's workforce, the government has said.

Launched in March 2020, about 16,500 employees received payments of £21.5m at its peak in April 2020, it said.

A quarter of the jobs supported were in the hospitality sector and a fifth in construction, it added.

Job protection and business support would stay for "as long as necessary", said Senator Lyndon Farnham.

Phase one of the scheme was launched for businesses severely affected by public health restrictions introduced in March 2020.

Phase two, for claims from April to August 2020, supported local businesses and the self-employed most affected by stay-at-home instructions.

About 3,650 businesses claimed support during the April 2020 peak, the government said.

Treasury Minister Susie Pinel said the level of payouts demonstrated "the scale of the challenges that businesses and employees faced because of the Covid-19 pandemic".

Mr Farnham, the Economic Development Minister, said the scheme had been at the "centre of our package of business support measures from the beginning of the pandemic".

He added: "The current business support schemes are under constant review and we will ensure that we continue to protect jobs and support businesses as long as necessary."