Jobless and special needs are overlooked

Long-term unemployed people and students with special needs are losing out on training at the hands of Training and Enterprise Council policies, a new report says.

As a result of government pressure for more output-related funding, TECs are more concerned with rapid turnover and output of trainees than the needs of the unemployed or those with special needs, according to the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

The report claims that a new focus on job outputs is discouraging training providers from recruiting anyone who is not ready to step straight into employment. "The degree of added value and skills produced by this system is in many cases negligible. Although improved job outcomes are being recorded, less training activity is being delivered."

Opportunities Knocked, NCVO Publications, Regent's Wharf, 8 All Saints Street, London N1 9RL, Pounds 5.50.