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£70m unemployed scheme criticised £70m unemployed scheme criticised
(40 minutes later)
A £70m scheme to help people find work has been criticised in an audit report for not doing enough for the long-term unemployed. A £70m scheme to help people find work has been criticised in an Audit Office Report for not doing enough for the long-term unemployed.
The report said more than half of the 35,000 people who took part in the New Deal 25-plus programme over a five year period went straight back on the dole.The report said more than half of the 35,000 people who took part in the New Deal 25-plus programme over a five year period went straight back on the dole.
It also found those aged 50 or over were even less likely to get a job.It also found those aged 50 or over were even less likely to get a job.
The report said while the current economic conditions are even more challenging, lessons should be learned.The report said while the current economic conditions are even more challenging, lessons should be learned.
It added that such programmes should focus more on older participants.It added that such programmes should focus more on older participants.
The programme was aimed at helping Northern Ireland's long-term unemployed back into work, but just 18% achieved both immediate and sustained employment.
Some people went through the Department of Employment and Learning's New Deal 25-plus more than five times and still remained unemployed, according to the report.
High long-term unemployment, relative to Great Britain, has been an ongoing concern to the Northern Ireland economy and is likely to increase in the current economic downturn, said the Auditor General John Downdall's report.
New Deal 25-plus was introduced in November 1998 to provide work experience and/or training to the long-term unemployed.
Variations
By the end of March 2007, 74,000 people had gone through the scheme at a cost of about £69m.
Over the five years to March 2007 on which the report focused, the bulk of participants - 60% - went on work placements under the Preparation for Employment Programme.
Just 7% achieved sustained employment.
An Audit Office survey of participating employers found that nearly 25% admitted they used the scheme as a source of low cost labour.
The report said older participants, particularly those over 50, were much less likely to get a job and the Audit Office urged the department to both improve the overall level of success and to focus more on the requirements of older participants.
The report said: "The characteristics of those involved in New Deal 25-plus changed over the life of the programme towards a core of 'hard to help' participants with complex and multiple barriers to employment, evidenced by the fact that by March 2007 around two thirds of participants had been on the programme before - a small number more than five times."
The review also identified variations in the performance of providers in getting participants into jobs and recommended the department be more rigorous in monitoring and applying job targets set for the organisations.
The report acknowledged the department had recognised, in its New Steps to Work programme, that New Deal 25-plus no longer met the needs of the remaining core of more challenging clients.