Department for the Economy considering High Street voucher scheme options

Claire Sugden has called for the High St Voucher scheme deadline to be extended universally so that everyone – primarily those affected by delays and errors – can spend the money they are entitled to.
The Department for the Economy said over 99.5% of eligible applicants received their Spend Local cards before the scheme ended.   Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEyeThe Department for the Economy said over 99.5% of eligible applicants received their Spend Local cards before the scheme ended.   Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye
The Department for the Economy said over 99.5% of eligible applicants received their Spend Local cards before the scheme ended. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

The Independent MLA has been backed by Retail NI chief Glyn Roberts who wants to see the scheme maximised but not indefinitely.

A spokesperson for the Department for the Economy said: “While over 99.5% of eligible applicants received their cards before the scheme ended and encountered no issue with their card, a small proportion of the population did not receive their Spend Local Cards or experienced problems activating or using their cards. The department is currently considering options for those affected.”

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Ms Sugden, who sits on Stormont’s Economy Committee, said that between Christmas and the new year dozens of constituents were in contact with her regarding ongoing issues obtaining or spending their cards.

“I wrote to the Minister for the Economy Gordon Lyons before the new year to explain the situation that I was seeing with my own eyes in my own constituency,” she said.

“People were having their cards locked before the original deadline, some were being wrongly told they had never made an application and many others simply hadn’t received their card.

“There was a budget to enable every eligible person in Northern Ireland to spend the entirety of their £100 – the Department for the Economy needs to facilitate this happening.”

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The most recently extended deadline ends today, but Ms Sugden said the cards are printed with the date of expiry as being the end of March.

She commented: “This implies the scheme could be extended again and it will have to be to ensure fairness.”

While the scheme has worked for the majority who had been able to use it, Ms Sugden pointed to flaws including people being uncomfortable using a digital application and assessment process and inadequate phone lines.

She said: “The overall success or failure of the scheme will be determined in the coming weeks and months. But it is in the coming hours and days that the Minister needs to act so that everyone has their chance to benefit from it.”

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Mr Roberts from Retail NI said: “We’ve always said we want to see as many cards out there as possible, it’s not just the consumer that loses out, many of our members lose out as well.

“We take an open-minded view to any extension of the deadline, but there will have to come and time when you do have to draw a line under it.”

He said: “What will be really interesting for us is to see where this money has been spent, for us success would be that the majority of the £145 million spend has been with independent retailers.

“Many of our members welcomed the fact this card was there particularly in the run up to Christmas, compared with the dreadful situation the Christmas before. There is no doubt it has helped.”

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