A MAN who has applied for more than 400 jobs in his efforts to get back to work has described the Budget’s help for unemployed people as a major disappointment.

Barry Cooke said Chancellor Alistair Darling had done nothing for him in his Budget.

The 54-year-old, from Long Newton, near Stockton, lost his job as an IT support manager in October last year with Northgate Vehicle Hire and has been out of work since.

Mr Darling unveiled measures that will see all people under 25 who have been out of work for a year offered a job or training place.

There will also be more support for people who have been out of work for 12 months.

Mr Cooke questioned why there was such a concentration on young unemployed people. He said: “There is nothing to address the problem for those people who, like myself, are over 25 and have been unemployed under 12 months. We need to start assisting everyone.”

There was also £1.7bn extra announced for Job Centres.

Mr Cooke said visiting the job centre was depressing because it was overrun with people looking for work, with advisors only able to spend a few minutes with people.

He said: “The Job Centre currently has two separate functions, an employment agency and a benefits office, with staff expected to advise on both functions. Hopefully, there will be steps taken to split the organisation into two separate functions.”