Department must do better despite unpredictability of demand - Empey

3 June 2008

Minister for Employment and Learning, Sir Reg Empey, today acknowledged his Department’s level of underspend and said that measures would be taken to improve over the next year.

Speaking following the Finance Minister’s statement in the Assembly, Sir Reg said: “This is a very disappointing level of underspend.  I, and the staff of the Department, take very seriously our responsibility to manage our finances as efficiently and effectively as possible but this has to be seen in the context of some significant programmes where the public controls the demand for resources.

“The bulk of our underspend relates to demand-led programmes which are difficult to predict.  My Department supports over 100,000 grants and loans to students each year; we support over 10,000 trainees each year and, through New Deal, we provide assistance to over 10,000 job seekers each year.  The funding needed to operate these programmes is extremely difficult to forecast, since it depends on decisions taken by the many thousands of individuals involved.

“It should be noted, however, that in respect of New Deal, the underspend relates to two key factors: the reducing trend in unemployment and in particular an increase in employment placements that we were able to achieve late in the financial year.  This means that my Department has found real jobs for people here which reduces the spend on employability benefits and is good news.”

The Minister gave his assurance that he would support all efforts made to improve the level of underspend for the coming year.  He said: “I am committed to ensuring that this level of underspend is not repeated next year.”

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