BTEA contribute to high monthly increase in LR figures

2 Jul 2004

The latest Live Register figures announced today reveal that there was a sharp monthly increase of 6,980 in the unadjusted figures while in contrast annual reductions of approximately 9,000 were also recorded. Interestingly, of the 6,980 there was a stark gender balance with females accounting for 5,456 of the total.

‘Overall the annual reductions are welcome and given that the academic year has just ended some variance between the adjusted and unadjusted figures for the month of June is to be expected,’ said June Tinsley, Policy Officer, INOU. ‘However, nearly a third of the monthly increase is accounted for by Back to Education allowance (BTEA) recipients returning to the Live Register as their BTEA is no longer payable during the summer months. This is causing unnecessary hassle for recipients and can be administratively problematic for Dept of Social and Family Affairs staff.’

These recipients are committed to their educational course for its duration and are not in search of permanent employment, as they will return to the course in September. Yet they have no choice but to return to the Live Register for income during the summer if they are unsuccessful in getting seasonal employment. This change to the administration of the BTEA is another example of the Government placing unnecessary obstacles in people’s way as they try to enhance their employability chances by returning to education.