National Party social development and employment spokesperson Louise Upston at a Rotorua workshop. Photo / Andrew Warner
National Party social development and employment spokesperson Louise Upston at a Rotorua workshop. Photo / Andrew Warner
A broadening of government support aiming for sustainable employment has been praised by some, but has been criticised by the opposition.
Minister for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni announced the ministry's role would expand to support non-beneficiaries in employment, education or training on Friday.
"As a result of our Government's focus on supporting people into employment, education or training, we've seen unemployment at a near-record low, exits off benefit and into work the highest on record, and benefit numbers not reaching the high forecasts from Treasury."
However, the opposition says the move to include non-beneficiaries in MSD's scope is "absurd".
The Welfare Expert Advisory Group and the Productivity Commission earlier identified that MSD employment services were previously focused on reducing short-term costs and the number of people on a benefit rather than long-term outcomes.
They called for the Government to strengthen and expand these services - the Government agreed to this as part of the welfare overhaul.
Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Throughout the pandemic, it invested funding to support a wider group into employment, including to assist those impacted by Covid-19 with returning to work quickly, Sepuloni said.
"With record numbers of people moving off benefit and into work and a promising pipeline of people participating across all our employment, education and training services, it's clear the expansion has proven its worth."
Employment and training support needed to be targeted, and a focus was put on providing proactive support to those at high risk of benefit receipt or who may be disadvantaged in the labour market, such as disabled people, sole parents and those with health conditions.
"We have seen success in our targeting so far, particularly for longer-term beneficiaries, with 36,000 people who had been receiving a main benefit for longer than a year moving into work over the previous 12 months."
Youth not currently receiving a benefit, but at risk of poor labour market outcomes, were among the target groups.
She said its He Poutama Rangatahi programme was an example of how it was working for youth.
It had invested $58.6 million in 88 programmes so far and more than 4200 young people had been supported into education, training, or employment since it began in 2018, with over 2350 currently in programmes.
The shift in the way MSD worked would help further develop and underline existing initiatives such as Industry Partnerships and Skills for Industry, she said.
Western Bay of Plenty's economic development agency Priority One's workforce and policy general manager Greg Simmonds welcomed the broadening of scope.
"The success of Priority One's Ara Rau skills and employment hub, which is supported by He Poutama Rangatahi funding, is evidence that a proactive, community-centric approach is required to support the thousands of New Zealanders at risk of longer-term disengagement from our labour market, at a time when industry is crying out for people."
By working with local businesses, iwi, education and training service providers, Ara Rau helped more than 200 people in the Western Bay of Plenty into sustainable employment and training pathways over the last year, he said.
Earlier in October, about 30 people attended an "Into Work" workshop in Rotorua, which was part of a series hosted by National Party social development and employment spokesperson, Louise Upston.
Upston said more than 20 per cent of people on the Jobseeker Support benefit in the city were youths - of 4842 people on the payment, about 1011 were under 25.
Rotorua Community Youth Centre Trust chief executive Jennifer Murray attended the meeting and, in response to Friday's news, said the trust was excited.
"To achieve equitable outcomes, it is essential that we provide proactive, holistic services for the young people who need them most.
She said the trust was well placed to provide support to enable youth to reach their full potential and to gain and sustain meaningful employment.
"Our young people being in work improves their wellbeing and significantly contributes to the economic wellbeing of Rotorua."
Upston was more critical of the news, and said it was "absurd" Labour wanted to devote taxpayers' money to support non-beneficiaries into work when more than 100,000 people were on the Jobseeker Support benefit long-term at a time when businesses were desperate for staff.
"Labour should be focused on reducing benefit dependency, which they have allowed to soar."
National's plan was to "break vicious cycles" of benefit dependency in early adulthood.
She said Labour was squandering a golden opportunity to shift people off benefits and into work.
But Sepuloni said it should not be one or the other.
"We need to continue to focus on those on benefit and the support they need to get into employment.
"What's been missing up until now has been the focus at the preventative end, where you support people into employment, education or training before they even consider needing to come onto benefit."
