New Deal is not a good deal for the taxpayer

The government's New Deal for the unemployed is the most expensive way to get young people back into work, according to the Conservatives. Damian Green (pictured), shadow minister for further and higher education, said that it costs the taxpayer at least Pounds 11,333 for each job created under the New Deal. The research, carried out by the Centre for Policy Studies, puts the comparable cost-per-job at Pounds 443 for Jobclubs, Pounds 282 for the Restart programme and Pounds 4,617 for Training to Work. Education secretary David Blunkett last week dismissed the CPS survey in the Commons as "silly" because it did not take into account the unemployment benefit saved on successful New Dealers and the additional income from tax and national insurance paid by them in their new jobs.