Multi-million funding to help young unemployed
A multi-million pound cash boost targeting youth unemployment here is one of the largest of its kind in any UK region, according to a Department of Employment and Learning source.
This additional funding includes £8million for Steps to Work, DEL’s main adult return to work programme and £5.8million to tackle the ongoing problem of youth unemployment and NEETs in Northern Ireland.
A DEL source said the investment, which was agreed by the Executive initially in March, was of a range and scale “substantially more than in other parts of the United Kingdom”.
DEL Minister Dr Stephen Farry said: “In March I secured the agreement of the Executive to a programme for tackling the rising numbers of our young people who are unemployed and need skills experience to help them move into work.
“Subsequently, in May, the Executive also agreed its strategy for assisting those Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs). The business case for the financing of these plans over the next three years has been approved by the Department of Finance and Personnel.
“I welcome that my Executive colleagues have supported my proposals with an additional £5.8million budget allocation in the June monitoring round. I can now proceed to put in place a range of new measures to tackle youth unemployment in Northern Ireland. I will make a full statement to the Assembly next week in which I will set out my plans in detail.
“This will see an enhanced level of intervention compared to our neighbouring jurisdictions. These measures will be additional to existing provision and will be targeted at skills development for economic growth. It is important to acknowledge that they have been informed by local needs and circumstances as well as best practice from other jurisdictions, including Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.”
The Department for Employment and Learning has been developing a comprehensive policy response to youth unemployment and the persistent problem of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) for some months. The funding announced today will allow the department to put additional provision in place this year to begin to improve the employment and training prospects of young people.
A multi-million pound cash boost targeting youth unemployment here is one of the largest of its kind in any UK region, according to a Department of Employment and Learning source.
This additional funding includes £8million for Steps to Work, DEL’s main adult return to work programme and £5.8million to tackle the ongoing problem of youth unemployment and NEETs in Northern Ireland.
A DEL source said the investment, which was agreed by the Executive initially in March, was of a range and scale “substantially more than in other parts of the United Kingdom”.
DEL Minister Dr Stephen Farry said: “In March I secured the agreement of the Executive to a programme for tackling the rising numbers of our young people who are unemployed and need skills experience to help them move into work.
“Subsequently, in May, the Executive also agreed its strategy for assisting those Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs). The business case for the financing of these plans over the next three years has been approved by the Department of Finance and Personnel.
“I welcome that my Executive colleagues have supported my proposals with an additional £5.8million budget allocation in the June monitoring round. I can now proceed to put in place a range of new measures to tackle youth unemployment in Northern Ireland. I will make a full statement to the Assembly next week in which I will set out my plans in detail.
“This will see an enhanced level of intervention compared to our neighbouring jurisdictions. These measures will be additional to existing provision and will be targeted at skills development for economic growth. It is important to acknowledge that they have been informed by local needs and circumstances as well as best practice from other jurisdictions, including Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.”
The Department for Employment and Learning has been developing a comprehensive policy response to youth unemployment and the persistent problem of young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) for some months. The funding announced today will allow the department to put additional provision in place this year to begin to improve the employment and training prospects of young people.
