Toko Training lost a bid in July to continue receiving specialised funding from the Ministry of Social Development to continue the "training for work" programme for 18- to 25-year-olds on the jobseekers and sole parent support benefits.
Mr Cadogan criticised the decision to cut funding to Toko Training because, he said, it left unemployed young people in the district vulnerable.
"I expect a better system than to make it a wordsmith exercise which is closeted and does not look at past performance ... That’s not on and that’s not fair."
"For the groups that we are talking about, our district has been left high and dry."
He said he had asked the ministry what people would do now the course was no longer available and sought to clarify whether those eligible for it would be compensated for travel to Dunedin, an hour away, where the course was now offered.
Deputy chief executive of the ministry, Ruth Bound, told the Otago Daily Times provision for transport costs was included in the contract awarded to the provider.
Such things were negotiated with the provider at the time of setting up the contract.
Winz clients interested in training were encouraged to contact the ministry for information on alternative providers and what assistance might be available, she said.
Toko Training did not get the funding because it "failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the set of evaluation criteria and as a result they were unsuccessful".
More than half of Toko Training’s clients were sourced from outside the district and it struggled to fill the course locally, she said.
Winz had been transporting young people from Dunedin to make up the numbers.
However, Tokomairiro High School principal Glenis Sim, who was involved with the application process for Toko Training, disputed that.
Ms Sim said that not enough people had been referred from Winz, so programme organisers worked hard to source trainees wherever they could.
Several people had approached Toko Training asking for help since the contract ended in July and had been turned away.
She accepted the tender had been under par, noting it was the first time the organisation had had to undertake such a process.
Ms Bound said there had been a briefing for potential providers on the tender process and how to apply, but Ms Sim said they had not been made aware of that.
Her biggest concern was that the ministry did not acknowledge Toko Training was more successful in finding job placements for its trainees than other providers, some of whom were awarded a contract.
Between 60% and 80% of Toko trainees secured a job every year since its inception in 2013.
Mrs Sim said she assumed the ministry had that information, but now knew "not to leave anything out".
