‘Wrong to name firms that need support’

Policy & Resources has said it would publish the names of all firms that received payroll co-funding.

‘To apply for financial assistance during Guernsey’s second lockdown, we are being forced to agree to have our names and the amounts we receive made public,’ said organiser Ross Le Brun on the change.org petition website.

‘We do not expect any instance of benefit payments to be made public and it seems like a breach of personal data.’

Mr Le Brun said that many smaller businesses and self-employed people were trying to get back to where they were before the first lockdown.

‘Any attempt to stop those who haven’t been affected from claiming support needs to be in a better focused way towards those fat greedy little piggies and not penalise the rest of us by including us in this measure.’

At the time of writing the petition had attracted 178 signatures.

Another element of the scheme that attracted controversy this time was a plan to ask businesses to repay the money if they made a profit of more than £50,000.

However, last week it was announced that this would not apply to payments made in January and February.

Chamber of Commerce president Elaine Gray said it was ‘absolutely delighted by the supportive and practical stance taken by P&R’.

‘This adjustment demonstrates their ability to review and respond at speed and we welcome that agility,’ she said.

The Institute of Directors vice chairman Wendy Dorey said: ‘A number of our members had voiced their need to take up payroll co-funding to help protect jobs without potential profits being penalised.

‘The IoD understands the need for accountability, which is a cornerstone of good governance, and the Policy & Resources Committee is rightly trying to balance support for business with protection of public funds at such a critical time for the island’s economy.’