Ball Darroch: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBall Darroch: General Debate[Sitting date: 04 November 2015. Volume:709;Page:7710. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DARROCH BALL (NZ First): Over the last few weeks and today as well I have been asking one simple question of the Minister for Social Development and that is: why has she decided to cut the funding to and the numbers of the very very successful Limited Service Volunteers programme? Unfortunately over the last couple of months and today the answers that we got were just rubbish. They were bereft of fact and I think the sad thing is that the Minister does not even know that herself.Chris Bishop: You didn’t even listen to her.DARROCH BALL: When I come to the House Mr Bishop I bring some facts and if the Minister wants some facts here are some facts about the course itself. In 2013 over 1300 trainees went through the Limited Service Volunteers course and over 80 percent graduated. Sixty percent of those moved into employment or training and the ministry’s own research shows that after 4 years those Limited Service Volunteers compared with any other cohort are the ones who spent the most time off the benefit. So we have got some facts there.Where the Minister wants to put the funding is into the Youth Guarantee scheme and just 52 percent of those in the Youth Guarantee scheme in 2013 graduated. So the Minister wants to cut a highly successful programme from 1500 to 800 places; she wants to close the Trentham base which is already happening; and she wants to close the Auckland base which is happening but the Minister did not even realise it was happening and I have brought that to the attention of the House.But do not take my word for it. Let us ask Paula Bennett. What did Paula Bennett say? She said: “Actually Limited Service Volunteers is making a difference and we have seen the numbers.” Paula Bennett: “I have seen first hand the light that switches on for young people while on LSV. They gain confidence they learn about themselves and what they are capable of.” But let us not just take Paula Bennett’s word for it. Let us ask the Prime Minister himself: “I’ve seen first-hand the dramatic effect LSV has on young people who volunteer to go through it … I’m proud of the increased investment we have made in LSV since coming into Government …”.Why is this Minister wanting to cut a very successful programme for our most needy youth? We have got 25000 youth on the benefit right now. What the Minister is trying to get us to swallow is that only 800 of those 25000 are suitable for this course and it is absolute rubbish. Not only that but as I stated in the House today during question time her own advisers in the ministry advised her not to decrease the baseline funding but to increase it from $1.1 million to $3 million.They actually recommended to the Minister to keep those numbers at 1200 places not 800 places and yet she stands up here week in and week out and says that the reason why she is cutting it down to 800 is—what? Because she has listened to her advisers? No. She is saying that the other reason is youth unemployment. No. Those figures which her advisers gave her to stay at 1200 and not 800 were based on the youth unemployment figures of today and I have actually got those lists right here.We have got the “neets” number from 2008 when this Government came in and when John Key campaigned on increasing funding to Limited Service Volunteers. We had 66000 youth unemployed. What is it today? In March 2015 the figure was 76000. That is actually an increase. In June 2014 there were 3000 on the youth payment and the young parent payment. In June 2015 there were 3100. There is an actual increase in the number of people on the benefit. Not only that but for youth between the ages of 15 and 24 which is the target cohort that the Minister is saying is reducing in the first quarter of 2010 when the 4-year funding package for youth employment was put into place by the Prime Minister himself—$55 million—64600 were unemployed. The figure at the exact same time in 2015 for the first quarter was 64000.So what we have got here is a Minister who does not know what is going on. She comes into the House and spouts rubbish. She says her advisers are telling her to cut that number and that the evidence she is basing that on is a reduction in benefit numbers but that is absolute rubbish. I will tell you the real reason why this is happening. In June 2015 the building that the Limited Service Volunteers were using in Trentham was sold. The lease ran out in 2015. The funding—the 4-year funding that was kicked off in 2011 by this Prime Minister—ran out in June 2015 and the Minister wants to say that all of those things are a coincidence.One last thing: I actually found this today. It is an article from a few months ago and it notes what is happening at the expense of our youth. It is entitled “Govt might make surplus after all” and guess what date that statement was made? It was in June 2015. This Government does not give a damn about those youth and this Minister—