Cost of pandemic recovery estimated at £363m in Jersey

The auditor general found there were early signs the economy was recovering since the Covid-19 pandemic

The cost of the Government response to the Covid-19 pandemic in Jersey is estimated at £363m, a report has found.

The report from the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) looked at the cost of recovery between 2020 and 2026.

It said the States is owed almost £6.5m by businesses who overclaimed from support funds set up during the pandemic.

It also said economic and social recovery schemes appeared to have met objectives.

Comptroller Lynn Pamment said there were "early signs" the economy was recovering from the impact of the pandemic.

She added that she had been unable to assess the success of all health-related schemes due to a lack of information.

'Moved at pace'

The report evaluates whether clear and measurable objectives were set out for schemes and funds established to achieve economic, social and health-related recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the report, Ms Pamment concluded that the government had "moved at pace" to introduce a range of measures aimed at supporting economic recovery post-pandemic, including schemes to support businesses directly.

Ms Pamment found a high rate of overclaims for two of these schemes and, at the time of the review, £6.4m of overclaimed money was still to be recovered.

The report found that as part of improving social welfare, the Health and Community Service Department (HCS) was successful in attracting dental practices to take part in the children's dentistry scheme and about 1,300 appointments had been generated since the start of the scheme.

The report also found, however, that for some health-related recovery schemes managed by HCS how the funding was spent and how well the schemes' objectives were achieved were not monitored.

'Early signs'

"There have been relatively few business failures and employment has remained at, or is better than, pre-pandemic levels," she said.

"There are early signs that the economy is recovering.

"It is, however, difficult to assess what would have happened to businesses without the support from the government.

"The education-related schemes put in place to stimulate social recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic have achieved the objectives set to date.

"In particular, the education outcomes to date demonstrate no deterioration from what would have been expected if there had been no pandemic."

Ms Pamment said this compared "favourably" with the performance in England.

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