The Mayor’s Taskforce For Jobs (MTFJ) has achieved its target and the council wants to continue the momentum in Ashburton.
A pilot trial of the Government- funded scheme to get youth into employment started in February with a target of 12 employment outcomes by the end of June.
It has achieved 15 placements by the end of last week deputy mayor Liz McMillan said, two of which are apprentices, and one is on a graduate programme with the finance team of the council.
Another nine have achieved further driver licensing, and one has undertaken further training through the programme, she said.
“The work will continue until June 30 and we aim to get as many of our young people who are not in employment, training or further education, into one of those activities,” deputy mayor Liz McMillan said.
“We currently have 54 job seekers enrolled, 15 of which are in employment, one into study, and seven have disengaged.”
They also have 55 local employers registered with the programme, McMillan said.
The pilot is set to end in June but based on its success and its benefit to the community, the council is hopeful of continuing to be a part of the nationwide scheme.
“The council is discussing with the MTFJ the possibility of turning the pilot into an ongoing programme,” McMillan said.
“We are in the proposal stage to determine the continued MTFJ programme in the Ashburton District.”
The programme funding was recently approved by the Government when it announced $18 million over two years for the MTFJ programme.

• By Jonathan Leask