In brief: Jersey’s Economy Department has admitted it cannot fully explain why some businesses failed to claim government funding designed to support apprentices. Apprentice numbers have held steady at around 430, and officials believe the reintroduction of trainee minimum wage rates may be part of the answer, though the full picture remains unclear.
The Mystery of the Unclaimed Funding
It is not every day a government department publicly admits that businesses choosing not to take its money is baffling, but that is precisely where Jersey’s Economy Department finds itself. A scrutiny panel heard this week that funding available through the government’s Better Business Support Package went unclaimed by some local companies that could have used it to offset the cost of taking on apprentices.
Chief economic adviser Tom Holvey told the panel that officials had been surprised by the low take-up. “The reason companies didn’t access the funding that was available to them remains a bit of a mystery,” he said, with a candour that is, frankly, refreshing in a government official.
Mr Holvey offered one possible explanation: the reintroduction of trainee minimum wage rates in September 2025 may have reduced the financial pressure on employers enough that the additional subsidy no longer felt necessary. The trainee rate had been abolished in 2024 but was brought back after what Mr Holvey described as a negative impact on apprenticeship numbers from the standard minimum wage. “It could be that the trainee rate coming back into effect meant that some companies no longer felt they needed the government money to subsidise that demand,” he said.
Apprentice Numbers Hold Steady Despite Wage Pressures
Economic Development Minister Gerald Voisin told the panel that the number of apprentices on the Island has remained consistent at approximately 430, even as the minimum wage has risen. Jersey’s minimum hourly wage currently stands at £13.59, with trainee rates of £10.50 in the first year and £11.75 in the second.
Deputy Voisin acknowledged that some businesses had raised concerns about the cost of employing apprentices. “Some businesses have spoken to me about the high cost that they have to pay apprentices, and that they can’t pass that cost on to the customer,” he said. However, he noted that the headline figure of 430 apprentices had not declined, suggesting the situation has not deteriorated as some feared it might.
Mr Holvey linked the stability in numbers directly to the return of the trainee rate: “I think that’s maybe why we didn’t see the apprenticeships actually fall away, because that trainee rate did come back in.” The implication is that the policy reversal on trainee wages may have done more practical good for apprenticeships than the funding package itself.
Skills Gaps and a Minister Caught Short
The panel also pressed Deputy Voisin on skills shortages more broadly, particularly in the context of concerns about artificial intelligence’s impact on employment. When the minister cited welders as an example of a skills shortage, Deputy Samantha Gleave pressed him on whether he had a full picture of where Jersey’s workforce is weakest, and what he intended to do about any gaps in that knowledge.
Deputy Voisin responded by saying he would ask Skills Jersey to produce a top-ten list of shortage areas. At that point, Mr Holvey stepped in to remind the minister that Skills Jersey already conducts an annual skills gap analysis, to which the Economy Department “heavily” contributes. It was, to put it gently, a moment that raised questions about how closely the minister is engaging with the work already being done within his own department.
For businesses in Jersey, particularly those in trades and technical sectors, the skills gap question is not abstract. If the department responsible for economic development is not fully across the findings of its own annual analysis, that is worth noting.
Source: Bailiwick Express
