Debate contribution: JobStart Scheme

Debate contribution by Mr Gordon Lyons on 6 October 2025.

MLA

Mr Gordon Lyons

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

6 October 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Ministerial Statement

Heading

JobStart Scheme

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5157323

Read the official Assembly record

Text

On 2 June, I made a statement to the Assembly regarding my Department's 2025-26 budget allocation. In that statement, I conveyed my desire to increase opportunities and life chances for everyone in Northern Ireland and announced my intent to invest in a multimillion-pound employment programme that would support all age groups and help to tackle the barriers to economic activity. For too long, we have had the highest rates of economic inactivity across the UK. Too many of our citizens of working age are not able to enjoy the benefits of fulfilling, quality employment. Earlier today, I launched a public consultation on an ambitious 10-year disability and work strategy, and I encourage responses to that. However, that is not all that I am doing. I want to tackle the full range of issues of unemployment and inactivity, and I want to break down those barriers to employment. That is why, today, I am also announcing a £12·4 million investment in employment support, the biggest single programme that my Department will deliver, in addition to existing employability provisions across my Department. That programme is JobStart, Creating Work Opportunities. The new employment scheme is wider-ranging than ever before. It will provide flexible, responsive support to those who need extra help to enter or re-enter the labour market. The scheme will build on the successes of previous JobStart programmes, but it will go further. It will widen access to all working-age benefit claimants and will include more flexible options to respond to the needs of people who have additional barriers. I have had the pleasure of meeting participants from previous schemes, and they have told me how that support has changed their lives. Many had low confidence, no experience or multiple barriers to employment, yet employers across Northern Ireland were willing to give them a chance. Their faith in those participants has paid off: 96% of previous employers were satisfied with the scheme, and many have found excellent employees.

Many participants did not have the confidence to find employment on their own; indeed, the participants who are now working in my Department told me that they thought that they would never get a job in the Civil Service. When those young people arrived, they struggled to make eye contact with anyone, and their confidence was low. What a difference a training plan, a patient line manager and a supportive team make. My Department recruited nine young people at the end of the first JobStart scheme. Two years later, they are thriving in their roles. Their confidence levels are through the roof. One has already secured a promotion.

As is the case with the programme that I am launching today, the previous schemes were open to the public sector, the private sector and the community and voluntary sector, and there are many good news stories. Let me share a couple. A 16-year-old who was not in education, employment or training was placed in a local GP surgery, supporting the team in an administrative role. She tells us that JobStart helped her find a job that she truly loves. It uncovered skills and qualities that she did not know that she had and gave her the confidence to come out of her shell. She said that the belief that was shown in her gave her hope in herself. Her employer was so impressed by her performance that she secured a permanent role on the team two months before her placement was due to end. Another participant was a new mother. Following her involvement in the JobStart scheme, she shared how it gave her access to a wide range of training, built her confidence and provided her with the experience that she needed to apply for future roles. She also told us that JobStart had not just helped her professionally but helped her become a financially stable new mother. That is the power of high-quality employment support. I want to see more people have those opportunities to participate in work, to develop and build new skills and to have a better future for themselves, their families and their communities. I am committed to delivering long-term, sustainable solutions to poverty across Northern Ireland. The Executive's anti-poverty strategy identifies work as one of the most effective ways out of poverty for working-age people. The programme that I am announcing today promotes access to good, inclusive employment, particularly for those who face barriers in the labour market. The opportunity to participate in supportive employment improves people's health and well-being, protects them against social exclusion and provides them with income, an identity and a sense of purpose. It helps to drive us towards having a more productive and competitive economy. That approach is central to the third pillar of the anti-poverty strategy, which is to support people to exit poverty. It helps ensure that we tackle the root causes of poverty in a sustainable way. To all those who questioned the anti-poverty strategy, I say that that is just one of the many actions resulting from that strategy. JobStart, Creating Work Opportunities opens today. We have employers already applying to offer the quality work opportunities to which so many of our citizens need access. I look forward to hearing about many more transformational experiences, and I commend my statement to the House.

I am happy to get the exact figures from the previous schemes for the Member. I shared some of the data in the past with Ministers in the UK Government. I specifically remember sharing data with Liz Kendall when she was in post in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). She was shocked and surprised at just how successful the retention of people in employment had been. It was at over 70%, which is a huge percentage compared with that for some other programmes, so that is really positive. I can get the Member the specific information that he is looking for, but the reason that I have invested so much of my budget for this year in the programme is that it has previously been a success. It has worked. It is an investment in people that has paid off. That is why I will continue with it.

The Department will continue to oversee the scheme. There have been changes. One of the changes that might be most interesting to the Committee Chairman is the introduction of a new option. Previously, the scheme was for 25 hours' work per week, but we have now included a 15-hour week option, because it was seen as being quite a big jump for some people to go from not working, perhaps for many years, to working 25 hours a week. That is why there is a second option that allows people to work for 15 hours. Hopefully, that will be a stepping stone to further success.

1,137 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:26 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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