The Prime Minister has announced new measures designed to provide more concentrated help for those out of work and to guarantee education or training to all school leavers. Speaking at a job summit in London today (12 January 2008), Gordon Brown set out the proposals, which follow his commitment last week to supply 35,000 new apprenticeships, through increased funding.
Central to the new measures was the allocation of £500m for recruitment subsidies to employers, financial support for new business start-ups and for training those out of work. The funding will be aimed at helping 500,000 workless people into work or training in the next two years.
This investment forms part of the Prime Minister’s £10bn fiscal package, which will bring forward public works in order to create and protect jobs. Gordon Brown added that the white paper on opportunities, released later this week, will include details of measures such as the school-leaver’s guarantee.
Gordon Brown encouraged employers to help create job opportunities by setting up Local Employment Partnerships, which have helped more than 90,000 long-term unemployed into work since they first were established in 2007.
