Charity says jobs at risk due to government cuts

Thirty-eight people have been told their jobs are at risk due to a reduction in government funding, a charity has said.

The Jersey Employment Trust (JET), which helps people with disabilities and long-term health conditions learn new skills and find and keep jobs, said last year it received £785,000 in one-off government grants, in addition to agreed taxpayer funding of £1.9m.

But the charity, which supported 516 islanders in 2025, said it was reviewing the scale of its services, after being told by the government that additional grants above its agreed budget would no longer be made available.

Social security minister, Deputy Lyndsay Feltham, said JET had "considerable overspends".

Feltham said the charity had approached the government for extra money.

"This is taxpayers' money, and I have a responsibility to make sure we're using it appropriately," she said.

"Government funding for JET remains at more than £2m this year and we are working to agree a long-term funding commitment with them.

"I want to reassure everyone who gets support from JET that we are absolutely committed to making sure they get the assistance they need. JET does incredibly valuable work in our community, and we are working with them to make sure that continues."

In a statement, JET said it continued to engage "constructively" with the Government of Jersey, but it had to take "responsible steps to realign its operations" after being advised future government funding would be "substantially lower than required to maintain its current level of clients and services".

It confirmed it had started a consultation process and placed all roles at Employ Jersey (JET) Ltd, which oversees its employment service, its Acorn training and development service and its under-25s team, at formal risk of redundancy.

Staff at Acorn Enterprises, a separate, self-funding company under the JET umbrella, would be unaffected, the statement said.

JET said government grants it had received in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 had been necessary to cover increased demand and the cost of living.

In order to stay within the £1.9m budget in 2026, it said it would need to:

• Refer more than half of its clients to the government
• Close its waiting list of more than 50 islanders
• No longer accept any new referrals, including any school leavers this summer

JET said "all options" would be explored during the consultation process, and that no final decisions had yet been made on individual roles.

It said it recognised "the seriousness of the situation and the concern it will cause for staff, clients and their families", and added "supporting those affected and communicating clearly and compassionately remains a priority".

Follow BBC Jersey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to [email protected].