Co-funded payroll scheme audit (FOI)Co-funded payroll scheme audit (FOI)
Produced by the Freedom of Information officeAuthored by Government of Jersey and published on
11 June 2024.Prepared internally, no external costs.
Request
The Freedom of Information request below advised that the Government of Jersey intended to publish the results of the co-funding scheme audit:
Co-funded payroll scheme (FOI)
A
Was this published as intended?
B
Please advise the percentage of all self-employed or sole traders that claimed payroll co-funding during the Covid measures, March 2020 to the end of 2021 that were overpaid.
C
How many or what percentage of those who received an overpayment were required to repay the overpayment?
D
How many of these repayments have now been repaid in full?
E
How many repayments continue on ongoing repayment plans, how much is still to be repaid on such plans?
F
What time period remains for all repayment plans to be paid off in full?
Response
A
Following the 2022 General Election, ministers decided to establish an appeals process for people who had overclaimed Co-Funded Payroll Scheme funding. As a result, the publication of audit results was put on hold. There are no longer any plans to publish this information.
B
Government of Jersey records do not indicate whether businesses have the precise legal form of a sole trader, so this question has been interpreted as applying to all businesses that are single-person owner-operated businesses. 34% of such single person entities overclaimed.
C
A de minimis of £100 was established as part of the audit and debts were not raised in such cases. 100% of claimants who, following the appeals process, have been found to have overclaimed more than the de minimis amount are required to repay the funding that they were not entitled.
D
879 have repaid in full.
E
265 agreed repayment plans and £0.97 million remains outstanding on these plans.
F
Repayment periods vary as they are subject to affordability tests. In some circumstances the Appeals Process granted up to 10 years to repay subject to affordability criteria. Some people who appealed successfully and received the maximum repayment period will complete their repayments in 2034.
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