Business Support Payments To Commence

Measures will enable thousands of local businesses and self-employed workers to apply for further financial support from the States.

On 24 March additional measures were announced by the Policy & Resources Committee to support business. These measures will enable local businesses and self-employed workers to apply for further financial support from the States following the establishment of a Guernsey Coronavirus Payroll Co-Sharing Scheme and a Grant Scheme.

Since those schemes were announced, a number of teams within the States have worked hard to ensure that payment of financial support can reach businesses as soon as practicable.

The process for submitting, validating and approving claims is now in place, and the first payments will be processed today (3/4/20). Payments for those applications processed so far will therefore start to arrive in claimant’s bank accounts from Tuesday of next week.

Deputy Lyndon Trott, Vice-President of the Policy & Resources Committee, who is leading the economic support measures on behalf of the Committee, said: “When these measures were announced, I said that it was critical that the measures agreed needed to be implemented almost immediately, given many businesses are fast running out of time to delay critical decisions on their ongoing trading plans and the future of their workforce. I’m therefore pleased to see that we have been able to start getting this support to business in little over a week since the schemes were
announced.

“So far over 2,300 businesses have registered for support and each of these business has now received an application form which many have already returned to us. Over 1,100 forms have been returned so far and the team is working through those at pace.”

A well-equipped team has been quickly mobilised and is currently processing the claims. The intention is to continue processing these forms over the weekend and into next week. It is anticipated that it may take a week to process the majority of claims, with some taking a little longer depending on complexity.

Deputy Trott said: “We are in regular contact with a wide range of businesses and industry representatives to hear feedback and suggestions on the impact of these schemes. We know that many individuals and businesses are anxious about their future and that the support measures in place will give many businesses a little breathing space to enable further planning to take place.

"The sectors of the economy eligible for support and the scope of the businesses support schemes are under regular review as the situation progresses. In that way we are able to offer meaningful support to businesses in a timely fashion.”

In addition to the Guernsey Coronavirus Payroll Co-Sharing Scheme and the Grant Scheme a range of other support measures are in place for business, including the ability for businesses to request deferment of commercial TRP, and employer contributions. These are being put in place as requested by business.

The States of Guernsey has also finalised a loan guarantee scheme to enable further financial support for Bailiwick businesses. The scheme will be launched today (3/4/20). Businesses that wish to utilise the scheme should talk to their banks directly. The scheme is operated by the clearing banks - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and RBSI/NatWest, however the Scheme will be open for other banks to join should they wish to.

Businesses are encouraged to email business.support@gov.gg if they require further information.