![\"Kaik\u014dura](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4JQFFGF_Hur1135LDRMTFJ_JPG.jpeg\")
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\nKaik\u014dura Mayors’ Taskforce for Jobs programme.
\nPhoto: Davud Hill\n<\/p>\n
The future of a youth jobs programme in Kaik\u014dura is in peril, despite previous successes.<\/p>\n
Te H\u0101 o M\u0101tauranga has been approved by the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) to receive a second tranche of funding from the latest round of the Mayors’ Taskforce for Jobs programme.<\/p>\n
But despite that cash injection, its future beyond June 30 remains uncertain due to the changing rules on who qualifies for support, Kaik\u014dura Mayor Craig Mackle said.<\/p>\n
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The government changed the criteria as it wants support targeted on getting people off the benefit rather than helping school leavers.<\/p>\n
It is also planning means testing for 18 and 19-year-olds applying for a Jobseekers’ Benefit.<\/p>\n
”The new criteria was never going to work here, but they (MSD) can see what we’ve done over the last few years and they recognise it’s still meeting a need,” Mackle said.<\/p>\n
Mackle said the Kaik\u014dura programme has had success over the last five years in supporting school leavers into employment, meaning there are comparatively few young people on a JobSeekers’ Benefit long term.<\/p>\n
”In the meantime, we’ve gone from being the fence at the top of the cliff, to the ambulance at the bottom,” Mackle said.<\/p>\n
Kaik\u014dura’s funding was slashed from $260,000 to $100,000 for the year from July 1, 2025, prompting a rethink of how the programme is offered in the district.<\/p>\n
There are few options for school leavers, as many young people end up leaving town for tertiary education, training or employment.<\/p>\n
This year’s funding is for 12 sustainable job placements, compared to 30 for the previous 12 months.<\/p>\n
And under the new criteria, the programme can only work with up to five school leavers, a number already exceeded.<\/p>\n
This financial year, the national programme supported 839 young people into employment nationally and is on track to reach the target of 900, according to Local Government New Zealand.<\/p>\n
”The programme is built on the foundation that mayors know their communities and districts intimately and understand the challenges and opportunities for their communities,” said a LGNZ spokesperson.<\/p>\n
”Initiatives such as this are particularly important amid a period of high unemployment rates for young people.”<\/p>\n
A Ministry of Social Development spokesperson said funding and the criteria for the 2026\/27 financial year will be announced in June.<\/p>\n
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kaik\u014dura Mayors’ Taskforce for Jobs programme. Photo: Davud Hill The future of a youth jobs programme in Kaik\u014dura…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,47,111,43,139,69,49,46,44,45],"class_list":["post-370914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-audio","tag-current-affairs","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-podcasts","tag-public-radio","tag-radio-new-zealand","tag-rnz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}