JET offered 'stabilisation funding' as pressure mounts to reverse cap

The Social Security Minister has found some money to provide Jersey Employment Trust with 'stabilisation funding' this year, but hasn't said how much.

Pressure has been mounting on Jersey's government to reverse its decision to cap the funding of the Jersey Employment Trust.

A petition against the move was on course this morning (19 January) to pass the threshold of 5,000 signatures to be considered for debate by the States Assembly.

Last week, the charity, which supports people with disabilities find work, placed its 38 staff at risk of redundancy, closed its waiting list and warned it would have to scale back its services because it had been told it would not receive any further top-ups to its core funding.

In 2025 it received an additional £785,000 above its £1.9m grant, to meet demand for its services.

The announcement sparked a backlash from service-users and their families, and the wider community.

Over the weekend, the Social Security Minister made a statement, saying she would use some department cash secured for diversity and inclusion initiatives to top up JET's core grant this year while work continues on finding a sustainable future model.

She said:

"Within this year’s Budget I also secured more funding for disability and inclusion initiatives and my intention was to use that money to make meaningful progress on the delivery of priority areas agreed by the Disability and Inclusion Advisory Group.

"Whilst it had not been the intention to use this money for an additional top-up for JET, I am also conscious that the Group has cited the need for data sharing between Government and partner agencies as one of the best ways to ensure that people have access to services in the most efficient way.  

"Therefore, I intend to use this money to provide stabilisation funding for JET in 2026 to enable us to continue to work in a collaborative manner to develop a business case for a sustainable future funding model."

 Deputy Lindsay Feltham, Social Security Minister

Deputy Lindsay Feltham has not said how much that will be, and the department is yet to respond to our question.

The board of JET says it is also seeking clarity:

"The Board has noted the Social Security Minister’s statement and has sought further clarification on a number of points raised, including the reference to “stabilisation funding”.

It has also rebuffed a suggestion a lack of data-sharing on its part has hampered funding talks, saying the charity has provided as much as it is legally allowed to.

Deputy Feltham said the charity is operating on an 'old and out of date funding arrangement' which 'clearly needs to be updated so they can continue to provide their services on a sustainable footing for the future'.

"A key part of this work would involve a data-sharing agreement so we could understand the scale of support provided by JET to its clients, and what other support each of them was receiving, which would ensure we could provide the best coordinated approach across all appropriate agencies.

"This would have put us in the best position to develop a business case which, if necessary, I could submit to Treasury for extra funding for an enhanced baseline funding budget for them (with future-proofing safeguards included).

"Unfortunately, despite ongoing dialogue, this work was not completed during the year, in large part because the JET Board did not come to an agreement with us to share data."

In a statement on Sunday night, the JET Board pushed back:

"..the Board wishes to make clear that it continues to support the Minister and her department in identifying a sustainable, long-term funding solution.

"As part of this co-operative approach, the organisation has shared, on an ongoing basis for a number of years, all information and statistical data it is legally permitted to provide regarding the clients it supports. Current data protection legislation prevents the sharing of clients’ personal data, a position of which the department is fully aware."

Deputy Feltham says her Chief Officer 'has worked extremely hard to find anything we could offer', providing a top up grant of £200,000 plus an RPI uplift to its £1.9 million core funding.  She says this was paid in December.

JET has said that its baseline funding has not kept pace with inflation over the past decade.

"By way of context, the organisation’s funding of £1.9 million in 2015 would equate to around £2.9 million today, taking into account inflation over the same period."

Support for the petition could increase the chance of the matter going to the States Assembly for debate, although any politician could bring a vote regardless.  With an election looming in June, that would seem highly probable if the situation is not resolved.

The topic is expected to be raised at Question Time in Tuesday's States sitting.

The government has insisted that no one will stop receiving support and that anyone who is concerned about their assistance or who would like to talk to a dedicated advisor should call 447608 or email customerservice@gov.je