New scheme to help create jobs in high unemployment regions

Press, 20 March 1987, Page 13

New scheme to help create jobs in high unemployment regions

Wellington reporter A new scheme — the Community Employment Investigation Scheme — has been set up to help create new jobs in regions with rapid job losses and high unemployment.

Under the scheme, funding of up to 90 per cent of costs will be available to individuals and groups to investigate new employment and business proposals to increase the chance of their gaining

unsubsidised employment.

The scheme is intended for regions where there has been persistently high unemployment, according to the Minister of Finance, Mr Douglas, and the Acting Minister of Employment, Mr Goff.

The first two areas where funding would be available would be the East Cape region, apart from Gisborne and the Northland region, apart from Whangarei.

They said funding of $400,000 and $1 million, respectively, would be available to begin with.

Mr Goff said the idea was innovative and designed to help people explore the development of new jobs within their region.

The scheme fitted in with special assistance to those whose industries were undergoing structural change, job-training schemes, and assistance

to workers relocating to other places to find employment. Applications under the new scheme would have to be approved by the Trade and Industry Department. This would be done for Northland by the department’s Auckland office, 1 and for East Cape by the head office in Wellington.

The scheme is intended to be extended to other regions.