Getting back to work (From Hillingdon Times)

Getting back to work

3:02pm Thursday 22nd January 2009

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People unemployed for more than six months will be guaranteed more support, helping them get back to work, under new proposals. The plan – announced by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at an employment summit led by the Prime Minister recently – will see £0.5 billion invested by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) over two years.

This will be funded by hundreds of millions of pounds of new money released by the Treasury, and targeted at those who have been out of the job market for six months or more. As well as extra funds for Jobcentre Plus to provide qualifying jobseekers intensive and personalised support, the package will include giving individuals access to:

• Employers’ Golden Hello’s – incentives of up to £2,500 paid to employers to recruit and train unemployed people
• New training places – extra funding for training places to help unemployed people get new skills, to maximise their chances of getting jobs from the 500,000 vacancies in the economy
• Work-focused volunteering options – helping people get back into work habits
• Help to set up a business – advice on creating a business plan, and funding for the first months of trading

This extra support is in addition to the £1.3 billion already being invested so that anyone who loses their job can access help on the first day they become unemployed.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown says: “We will do everything we can to prevent the global recession turning into a global depression, to prevent short-term unemployment turning into long-term unemployment, and to prevent losing your job meaning losing your home.

“That’s why we say, invest to extend real help now to those who lose their jobs. And my message is simple: we won’t give up on you; but in turn you must not give up on work, on skills, and on training.”

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, James Purnell, adds: “There are still more than half a million jobs available, and employers are still recruiting – we will do everything we can to get people into those jobs.

“Our message is simple, the longer a person is out of work, the harder we will work for them.”

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