WIREDGOV

Deputy Minister for Skills, Julie James has dismissed any question of the Welsh Government’s flagship Jobs Growth Wales programme being scrapped, and has confirmed the successor programme will be in place by next month.

She has also reassured young people already accepted onto the scheme that their sixth month placements will not be affected by the current transition period and that they will continue to receive full Welsh Government support.

The Deputy Minister said:

“Contrary to reports in the media today, there is absolutely no question of our flagship Jobs Growth Wales programme being scrapped.

“Jobs Growth Wales has been hugely successful, resulting in almost 15,000 young people finding a meaningful job opportunity.

“One of the reasons we have been able to invest so much in the Jobs Growth Wales programme is because it is partly  funded by the European union and as such is delivered as a project with a planned start and end date.

“The current EU funded project came to its planned end date on 31st March for new entrants only and we  are now in a transition phase.  

“We will launch the successor programme next month and I  look forward to helping many more young people from across Wales to find meaningful and sustainable employment with the help of Jobs Growth Wales.”  

The Welsh Government is currently working with WEFO to progress an application for additional funds for the  successor Jobs Growth Wales project under the new European programmes.

The original Jobs Growth Wales programme was launched in 2012 with a target of creating and filling 12,000 jobs.

The programme has exceeded its targets in every year of operation and has now helped almost 15,000 young people aged 16 – 24 into a job opportunity. This has meant a significant reduction in youth unemployment across Wales.

The programme has also helped businesses to grow and expand.  Indeed 8 out of 10 of the jobs created by Jobs Growth Wales have been created in the Private Sector.