AQW 43149/11-15 Written question to the Minister for Employment and Learning
To ask the Minister for Employment and Learning to detail (i) the number of jobs created through the Step Ahead 50+ Initiative, broken down by Constituency, and (ii) whether the Initiative is on track to meet its original target beyond March 2015.
Asked by Claire Sugden MLA on 3 March 2015
- Answered
- Written
- Tabled
- 3 March 2015
- Answer due by
- 19 March 2015
- Answered
- 13 March 201510 days after tabling
- Department
- Department for Employment and Learning
- Priority question
- No
Answer
The Step Ahead 50+ Initiative was initially delivered as a strand of the Steps to Work programme and latterly as a strand of Employment Service Support.
Referrals to the Steps to Work programme ended on 30th May 2014 and
Employment Service Support (ESS) was introduced on 2 June 2014, to support the continued delivery of Executive funded initiatives, including Step Ahead 50+, and as part of the wider transition arrangements that facilitated the continuity of provision in the run up to the introduction of the new adult employment programme Steps2Success.
The following table sets out those participants finding a temporary employment opportunity through the Step Ahead 50+ strand of the Steps to Work programme between January 2013 and June 2014.
| Participants starting the the Step Ahead 50+ strand of Steps to Work (January 2013 to June 2014) (1) (2) | ||||
| Westminster Parliamentary Constituency | 2012/13 | 2013/14 | Apr-Jun 14 | Total |
| Belfast East | 5 | 30 | 5 | 35 |
| Belfast North | 25 | 70 | 5 | 105 |
| Belfast South | 10 | 20 | - | 30 |
| Belfast West | 25 | 70 | - | 95 |
| East Antrim | 15 | 35 | 5 | 50 |
| East Londonderry | 10 | 25 | - | 35 |
| Fermanagh and South Tyrone | 10 | 15 | - | 25 |
| Foyle | 20 | 80 | 5 | 105 |
| Lagan Valley | 5 | 20 | - | 30 |
| Mid Ulster | 5 | 40 | 5 | 50 |
| Newry and Armagh | 5 | 20 | - | 25 |
| North Antrim | 15 | 30 | - | 45 |
| North Down | - | 35 | 5 | 40 |
| South Antrim | 5 | 25 | - | 25 |
| South Down | 5 | 25 | 5 | 35 |
| Strangford | 10 | 35 | - | 45 |
| Upper Bann | 5 | 50 | - | 60 |
| West Tyrone | 5 | 35 | - | 45 |
| Not Known | 0 | 15 | - | 15 |
| Total | 180 | 680 | 45 | 905 |
| Notes: | ||||
| (1) Figures are rounded to the nearest 5, due to rounding figures may not sum to totals. | ||||
| (2) Cases were a participant started and finished an activity on the same day have been removed. | ||||
| (3) Step Ahead 50+ was introduced in January 2013 - figures are from this date. | ||||
In addition to the above, validated statistical information is not yet available on ESS that would allow me to report on starts by constituency; management information collected on the Step Ahead 50+ strand of ESS indicates that by 28 February 2015 over 280 clients have found temporary employment opportunities through this initiative.
As the original target for Step Ahead 50+ was to deliver 1,100 temporary job opportunities within the Community/Voluntary sector by March 2015, with over 1,185 temporary job opportunities already delivered the Initiative is on track to exceed its original target.