01 March 2002
But in a report on the scheme published this week he adds this caveat: 'Many of these young people would have found work anyway without the help of the programme.'
For the beneficial effects to be maintained, the scheme needed to be adapted to changes in the economy.
By the end of October 2001, some 339,000 New Deal participants had experienced at least one spell in employment, the report says. Around 244,000 had gone on to other unsubsidised jobs lasting more than three months.
The average annual cost per additional person employed 'lay within the range £5,000–£8,000', the National Audit Office report says. But the changes to employment levels produced by the New Deal had meant an increase in national income of more than £200m a year.
PFmar2002
