Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Caseloads obstacle to getting beneficiaries into work

Updated at 4:14 pm on 17 March 2010

MPs have been told there are obstacles to getting long-term sickness and invalid beneficiaries into work, including that case managers lack the time to help.

Staff from the Auditor-General's Office spoke to Parliament's social services select committee on Wednesday about its report into a policy that was supposed to save $49 million a year.

The report on how the Ministry of Social Development was implementing changes introduced in 2007 to help more beneficiaries get work found it was not being monitored properly.

Senior auditor Bill Gebbie says case managers have heavy workloads and it is difficult for them to know how far to push beneficiaries.

Copyright © 2010, Radio New Zealand