10. KATRINA SHANKS (National) Link to this
to the Minister for Social Development and Employment
What is the Government doing to help people who lose their jobs because of the global recession?
Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Social Development and Employment) Link to this
I am pleased to announce a pilot employability enhancement service that is being run by the Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Michael Barnett and I got together a couple of weeks ago and discussed how we were going to help people who do not come into Work and Income but who need some assistance to get themselves back into a job because they have been made redundant. This service is about responding quickly to get skilled people back into the workforce as soon as possible.
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
This pilot programme with the chamber of commerce will especially help those highly skilled people who may not be eligible for a benefit, although some of them may be. It is about helping those people in gaining skills transfer and in understanding how to use their networks. Currently, of the over 50,000 people on the unemployment benefit, about 35 percent have never received an unemployment benefit before. These are the people that this pilot programme can help, as well as others that may need that assistance.
Dr Rajen PrasadIs the Minister aware that the Government’s policy initiative to cap, not cut, the Public Service numbers has so far resulted in around 1,500 job losses; that cuts to the Enterprising Communities scheme has seen 3,000 job losses; that 4,500 Kiwis had their educational opportunities scrapped as a result of the cuts she has made to the training incentive allowance; and that a further 6,000 students will be shut out of polytechnics and led to join the dole queue because her Government will not remove the student cap on polytechnics? Will what she is proposing assist these 15,000 people during the global recession?
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
I am sure that we can make up numbers as we like, and it certainly sounds to me like that is what has been happening over on the Opposition’s side of the Chamber. What I can say is there are more people working on the front line of Work and Income and Child, Youth and Family than there were at this time last year. That is my commitment to the people who need that help. We expect those numbers of front-line staff to continue to grow.
Hon PAULA BENNETT Link to this
This service is about helping people prepare CVs, and it is about seminars to help with interview skills. It is about using the network of contacts that people might know. It is intended for some of those people who may not have found themselves unemployed for many, many years, and do not know how to use those networks. The Prime Minister’s own constituent Mr Burgess could benefit from something like this, which can help him get into that market and understand how to do it. We are keen to help people in different ways, and this is a great initiative. I am pleased to say that I think it will work really well.