Spend Local £100 voucher scheme to reopen for some applicants

The previous deadline to spend remaining balances on the Spend Local card was 19 December

Northern Ireland's £100 high street voucher scheme is to reopen on Christmas Eve for a small number of people who had problems with the cards.

People who had issues either applying for or using their card before the 19 December deadline will be contacted by the Department for the Economy.

Those eligible for the extension will be able to use their card between 24 December and 7 January.

It is the third time deadlines have been extended in the £1.4m scheme.

'Technical issue'

The vast majority of applicants received and spent their vouchers within the allotted timeframe but a relatively small number of people faced delivery delays or problems with transactions due to a variety of issues.

The department said that cards delivered late included:

• cases where members of the public made errors in their applications

• cases in which applications were received late

• cases where applicants did not respond to requests for information within the deadline

• cards that had to been reissued due to being lost/stolen or faulty

But in its statement on Wednesday, the department said it had also "become aware of a technical issue affecting 2,010 cards on the final weekend of the scheme".

It said the "vast majority of these cards had less than £5 outstanding balance" but 300 of the cards had the full balance remaining.

The department said the technical issue was "unfortunate" and it would be in direct contact with those affected to advise them of the extension.

People who had problems with transactions or who received their cards late will be able to spend their remaining balance between 09:00 GMT on 24 December and 23:59 GMT on 7 January.

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The Spend Local voucher scheme was introduced by the Northern Ireland Executive to boost consumer confidence and footfall in high streets.

It was an attempt to support local businesses whose trade was badly disrupted by coronavirus lockdowns and restrictions.

All adults in Northern Ireland were entitled to apply for the £100 card which could be spent in "bricks and mortar" businesses provided that they had card payment facilities.

Economy Minister Gordon Lyons hailed the voucher scheme as a "massive success"

The scheme opened for applications on 27 September and initially it was due to close on 30 November.

However, due to delays with some applications, it was extended until 14 December and then extended again to 19 December.

The department said it was verifying applications up to the very last minute because it "wanted to ensure the most amount of people could support local businesses".

Most businesses welcomed the voucher scheme but some expressed reservations about its timing and its possible displacement of Christmas trade, which is traditionally the busiest period for the retail and hospitality industries.

Spend Local 'contributed to pick-up in retail demand'

On Wednesday, the department hailed the scheme a "massive success", with Economy Minister Gordon Lyons saying it had "achieved what it set out to do".

"Over 1.4 million pre-paid £100 Spend Local cards were dispatched and we boosted the economy by over £137.5 million," the minster said.

The impact of the voucher scheme on high street trade is yet to be fully analysed, but the department pointed to signs of its success in recent reports from the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC) and Ulster Bank.

Retail sales in Northern Ireland rose in November for the first time in four months, according to the most recent Ulster Bank survey of private sector businesses.

The NIRC said footfall increased by 5.6 percentage points in November, compared to the previous month.

It is not yet known how much the £100 card scheme affected Christmas trade

Christmas shopping usually accounts for a rise in retail sales in November each year, however the NIRC report said Northern Ireland's shop visits were 10 percentage points higher than the UK average this November.

Ulster Bank's chief economist Richard Ramsey said the Spend Local £100 voucher scheme had "undoubtedly" contributed to the pick-up in demand.