The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs paid CZK 1.2 billion to increase employment of disadvantaged people. However, it is not possible to assess whether the support actually helped them

The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MoLSA) has spent a total of CZK 1.2 billion between 2016 and 2022 to increase the employment of disadvantaged people, such as people with low qualifications, people with disabilities, the long-term unemployed, people over the age of 50, people caring for young children or other dependents, without specifying what kind of change is to be achieved. Therefore, it cannot control the long-term benefits of the supported projects. A total of CZK 9.1 million can be used for the implementation of the project. The Ministry spent CZK 9.9 million on ineligible expenditure, for example by supporting people who did not fall within the defined target groups.

The Supreme Audit Office (SAO) found this during an audit of state and EU funds earmarked for increasing employment of various disadvantaged groups. In addition to the MoLSA, the auditors also examined 10 selected projects at six beneficiaries.

The auditors found that the MoLSA had set only one quantified longer-term target, which related to the desired change in the population. This was to achieve a 75% employment rate for people aged 20 to 64. However, the set value was already exceeded in the year of the start of the support - at the end of 2016. In 2022, according to the Czech Statistical Office, 81 % persons in that age range were employed.

The evaluation of the success of the support was based primarily on the number of project participants and those who obtained qualifications. However, in many cases these parameters do not have an impact on their employment on the labour market. Nor do the numbers of participants alone make it possible to assess the real benefits of the projects. For example, the beneficiary of the subsidy organised retraining courses for drivers, welders, metalworkers, care workers, etc. The SAO audit showed that 78 % of all retrainees either did not find employment on the labour market at all or found employment outside their retraining.

The following two examples illustrate the use of funds for ineligible expenditure: one project was intended to support people who would have been at risk of unemployment without their participation in the project. The SAO found that 31 out of 62 people were able to return to their original employer after parental leave. Therefore, these were not people who would have been at risk of unemployment without their participation in the project. Another project aimed to contribute to reducing the number of long-term unemployed and disabled people in debt. The SAO auditors found that for thirty-one of the 49 project participants, i.e. for more than 63 %, the beneficiary did not prove that these persons belonged to the selected target group.

According to the SAO, the MoLSA spent funds to support projects aimed at increasing employment of disadvantaged groups of people with reduced effectiveness and efficiency. The projects contribute only to a short-term increase in employment - mainly for the duration of the project, or for the duration of the wage subsidy for the subsidised job. The SAO did not find any longer-term benefits in terms of increased employment rates.

The audit of the selected ten projects showed that in only one case did the beneficiaries spend the funds efficiently but with reduced effectiveness. In two cases, the beneficiaries spent all the funds inefficiently and ineffectively, supporting people who did not belong to the target groups. In seven other cases, the SAO found partial deficiencies that reduced the effectiveness and efficiency of the funds spent. In four projects, the SAO found evidence of breaches of budgetary discipline.

SAO/ gnews - RoZ