Hon Roger Sowry, the Minister of Social Services, Work and Income

National spokesperson on employment
http://www.national.org.nz/

1. What are your employment policies? What employment initiatives will your government take?

National's policies have created over 270,000 new jobs since 1991, and our strong economic and employment policies will continue to encourage employers to create jobs.

National believes economic growth is one key to reducing overall unemployment. It is New Zealand's economic environment that largely enables businesses to expand and prosper, providing the conditions for sustainable job growth. We need to ensure New Zealand's economy is growing enough to absorb the 20,000 plus job seekers joining the work-seeking population each year, and to reduce the existing numbers of unemployed people.

National will focus our resources on cutting long-term unemployment _ Work and Income New Zealand's resources are targeted at cutting the length of time people remain unemployed. We will also focus on changing the way job-seekers are treated while they are between jobs and receiving State support. We will continue with initiatives like the Community Work scheme and Worktrack, which enable participants to build up their confidence and motivation and develop work skills.

• National has introduced the Community Wage as a new direction for job seekers. In return for receiving the wage, people who are able to work are expected to be available for suitable community work, training or other organised activities which can be provided in their area for up to 20 hours per week.

The aim is to both reduce the duration of unemployment and keep as many job seekers as possible active between jobs. The principle target group is the long-term unemployed and those at risk of long-term unemployment (people who have been out of work for longer than six months).

Over 25,000 long-term unemployed people, or those at risk of long-term unemployment, have participated in Community Work, or its predecessor, Community Taskforce, over the year to June 30 1999.

• National introduced Work Track pilot programmes in 13 regions this year. Work Track is an early intervention programme covering CV preparation, interview skills, motivation and supervised job search. The programme has already been extremely well received, and the completed programmes are showing excellent results. The launch of Work Track has been followed up with a print media campaign to heighten the awareness of employers to Work and Income New Zealand's job seekers.

• National will continue to support the Community Employment Group, in its works with communities and community groups to help them create local opportunities for employment and activities that lead to self-sufficiency.

2. What is your party view on the future of work and income?

A high priority of any National Government for the future of work and income is to sustain strong economic growth as a secure basis for on-going job growth and rising living standards for all New Zealanders.

National's aim is to continue to create opportunities to help unemployed New Zealanders to move from dependence to participation in the paid work force. We believe in giving people the skills they need to help themselves and the skills they need to move into paid employment, while at the same time, alleviating hardship and guaranteeing help for those genuinely in need.

3. What changes, if any, would you make to the new Winz department?

National would not make any changes to Work and Income New Zealand. Since WINZ was established, it has had had a number of successes including:

— Record number of people on the Domestic Purposes Benefit going into work _ over the year to July 1999 a record of 9,700 Domestic Purposes Beneficiaries found work, including two who had been on the DPB for over 20 years.

— Over 25,000 of the long-term unemployed, or those at risk of long-term unemployment, have participated in Community Work, or its predecessor, Community Taskforce, over the financial year to June 30 1999.

— Around 4,500 community organisations are taking Community Work job seekers on.

— Job seekers are now getting personalised support _ each person gets focused help with their benefits and with their job search, from a personal case manager.

— There has been a 30% drop under this Government, with people who have been out of work for four years or more dropping from 14,800 to 10,200.

— Taxpayer savings _ an estimated $162 million will be saved over the first 10 years as a result of the integration of the offices and staff of the Employment Service, CEG and Income Support.

4. What are your policies on the Community Wage?

National supports the community wage as it helps job seekers with their self confidence, self esteem, job skills and helps provide them with the positive motivation needed to get to work.

5. Will you make any changes or additions to the Winz employment subsidised work programmes?

National will continually evaluate the employment programmes run by WINZ, to ensure they are working well. WINZ currently places over 100 of its customers into jobs each day, and National will continue to work to ensure that WINZ's employment programmes continue to operate successfully and that new programmes are implemented as necessary.

6. What are your policies and initiatives on education and training for the unemployed?

National places a high priority on people having the skills needed to succeed in the 21^st Century. We believe that training should be industry driven and flexible.

National will continue to provide education, skills and training for the unemployed with initiatives like Work Track, the Community work scheme, and Skill New Zealand.

Skills NZ is a government agency which buys training for people who are unemployed or have low qualifications. Skill NZ offers training programme in many areas, from forestry and fishing, to building, painting and decorating, to retail, hospitality and catering and other specialised work-based training options. Programmes build towards national qualifications designed by industry, and providing the training employers want for future employees.

Skill NZ has found that there is a strong link between credit achievement on the NZQA framework and a positive employment or further training outcome, so many programmes are now linked to the NZQA.

7. How will you encourage local government to be active in solving unemployment?

The successful Community Work scheme has helped encourage local government to be active in helping to reduce unemployment. Regional and territorial authorities are among the 4,500 plus community organisations that have endorsed the scheme, providing community work for job seekers on the scheme.

8. How will you encourage community groups working in this field?

National will continue to encourage community groups to be active in solving unemployment.

We will continue to support the Community Employment Group (part of WINZ), in its works with communities and community groups to help them create local opportunities for employment and activities that lead to self-sufficiency.

CEG has fieldworkers throughout New Zealand who work alongside community groups, helping them develop their own ideas for community employment and economic development. The fieldworkers provide a range of assistance, including:

— Providing information and advice

— Linking groups with government departments and agencies for assistance

— Facilitating community planning

— Providing brokerage services to access financial, technical and expert assistance

— Linking communities with the private sector and local authorities

— Advising on appropriate legal structures

— Providing small, one-off grants to kick-start projects.

CEG's priority groups for assistance are women, Maori, Pacific peoples, and rural and urban disadvantaged communities. It is these groups, that often face the most difficult employment problems, that National wants to help.

Projects that have been developed with the assistance of CEG include alternative uses for Maori-owned land, initiatives to assist women returning to the workforce, and projects which address the employment needs of ex-prison inmates, new migrants and the growing numbers of older job seekers.