A FLAGSHIP strategy to get unemployed young people into work is failing to help those who need it most, says a committee of MPs.
The New Deal for Young People, launched in 1998, is mandatory for all 18 to 24-year-olds who have claimed Job Seeker’s Allowance for more than six months.
A target of putting 250,000 under-25s in work before the end of 20012 was met. Up to June 2002, 116,800 people were in full-time education or training as part of the New Deal. The Committee of Public Accounts report revealed the strategy helped reduce long-term unemployment, but a more flexible approach was needed in the most deprived areas.
The percentage of leavers from the scheme who got a job varied between 37 and 71 per cent from area to area.
