More than £255,000 has been paid out in test and trace support payments on the Isle of Wight — although some people will be asked to give the money back.
Since late September, £500 payments have been available for those who were told to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace.
The scheme is still running and is for people on low incomes who are unable to work from home if they have to self-isolate and will lose income as a result.
The Isle of Wight Council has been administering the support payments and has so far made 511 payments totalling £255,500.
When an applicant applies to the scheme, the council undertakes verification checks, such as confirming the applicant’s NHS account ID, a loss of income and their entitlement to a qualifying benefit.
A council spokesperson said all cases have gone through the same process to confirm eligibility and all checks were completed before the payments were released. However, speaking at a meeting of the audit committee, the council’s chief internal auditor, Elizabeth Goodwin, said there are some cases where money has been requested back.
Checking more than 30 of the applications, it was found that 10 did not meet the criteria eligible. Those 10 payments could mean a potential £5,000 needs to be paid back.
Ms Goodwin said the grants were implemented at speed and at the time very little evidence was required to be submitted.
The tests carried out, Ms Goodwin said, were to verify an actual decrease in salary had occurred after the payment had been made. Some employers had forced workers to take leave instead or had given employees sickness pay. Some people believed their salary was due to decrease but it may not have done.
£500 for a forced ten day isolation is happy days in my opinion, this is the Isle of Wight, and most people that do work, are on minimum wages…
Typical.
Pay out money then want payed back.
Not a good test procedure, typical IoW Council loss making exercise!
The criteria for this is a joke. If you work 37 hours, or more (regardless of hourly rate), you are not eligible anyway…. other family circumstances are not taken into consideration either….