MPs demand evaluation of New Deal 50 plus

Tuesday, 24 May 2005 12:01 AM

The Government's flagship programme for helping older people into work must be properly evaluated, according to an influential committee of MPs.

The Public Accounts Select Committee said that up to September 2004 New Deal 50 plus had helped around 158,000 into work at the cost of £250 million.

But it adds: "Compared with other programmes, performance data is limited and a full economic evaluation has not been undertaken."

MPs estimate that the cost to the economy of the lower levels of employment in older people is between £19 billion and £31 billion a year and stressed that the loss of skills and experience is "wasteful."

It points out that there are many benefits to employers in employing older staff including lower staff turnover, greater productivity and better skills retention.

The committee also suggests that age discrimination remains a problem.

The chairman in the previous Parliament, Edward Leigh, said: "New Deal 50 Plus is the flagship programme for helping older people get back to work, but we have no way of knowing how effective it really is because, unlike other New Deal initiatives, it has not been subject to a proper economic evaluation."

Mr Leigh called for far better use of performance targets, both for those who found jobs and those moved closer to employability, with staff urged to focus on those most in need.

He added: "Over-50 does not mean over the hill. Joblessness among people over-50 is costly to them as individuals and incredibly wasteful to the economy as a whole. Despite recent improvements there are still up to one million people in this age group who want to work but are being held back for a variety of reasons."

Of additional concern to the committee is the increasing number of people on incapacity benefit - twice as many as in the late 1980s with over 50s accounting for half of all claimants.

It urges the DWP to evaluate ongoing pilot projects to get older people back to work - and to fund projects that are effective.

And, the MPs say the Government "should exploit this major invest to save opportunity which could lead to significant net savings to the taxpayer."

Incapacity benefit is set to be a big issue in this Parliament with the Government unveiling plans in the Queen's Speech to reform benefits to promote a return to work.

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