Employer Partnership and
a new 'jobs pledge' the key to full employment in
Britain, says Prime Minister
DEPARTMENT FOR WORK
AND PENSIONS News Release (DRC - 039) issued by The Government News
Network on 18 July 2007
A ground-breaking
new "jobs pledge" aiming to find job opportunities for a
quarter of million people currently on benefit is at the heart of
a Green Paper on the next steps to full employment being published
today by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Work and Pensions
Secretary, Peter Hain.
Building on the Local Employment Partnerships announced in the
Budget earlier this year, major employers in both the public and
private sectors have given a commitment to offer guaranteed job
interviews for people who have been on benefit and who are ready
and prepared to work.
At a launch event today in Downing Street, Gordon Brown and Peter
Hain were joined by a group of Chief Executives and Directors
drawn from some 30 employers which have already committed
themselves to Local Employment Partnerships.
Announcing the reforms, the Prime Minister said:
"In Britain today there is still too much potential
untapped, too much talent wasted, too much ability unrealised.
Full prosperity for our country can only be delivered - and
Britain only properly equipped for the future - if we transform
the way we think: using not some of the talents of some of the
people, but all of the skills of all of the people.
"And it is because of the scale of our ambitions, that we
know this task can not be met by Government on its own or business
on its own, but only by individuals, Government and business in
partnership together. Government taking responsibility to fund
basic skills training and reforms its provision; employees taking
responsibility to take up the training on offer; but crucially
also employers themselves taking greater responsibility for
providing job opportunities and improving the skills of their workforce.
"This new jobs pledge today sees leading employers in
Britain stepping up to that responsibility, aiming to help 250,000
more people into jobs within three years."
The employers that have committed to Local Employment
Partnerships include ASDA, B&Q, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury,
Tesco, Debenhams, DSGI, Birds Eye, Transport for London, Greggs,
John Lewis, Primark, Wilkinsons, Gala Group, Intercontinetal Hotel
Group, Wetherspoons, McDonalds, Whitbread, G4S, OCS, Reliance,
Securitas, Standard Life, Somerset County Council, Network Rail,
Vodaphone, Carillion, Centrica, City Facilities Management,
Aviance, Servisair, SERCO, Travelodge, and Diageo.
The Green Paper also sets out plans for a more personalised,
flexible and responsive New Deal matched by new responsibilities
for jobseekers to do all they can to help themselves.
There will be a new social contract for lone parents which
promotes the value of work as the best route to tackle child
poverty. Under our proposals, from October 2008 lone parents whose
youngest child has reached the age of 12 will no longer be
entitled to Income Support simply because they are a lone parent.
Instead they will be eligible to claim Jobseeker's Allowance,
where they will be expected to look for suitable work in return
for tailored, personalised help and support that reflects the
specific circumstances facing the lone parent.
And, building on the Freud Report earlier this year, the Green
Paper sets out proposals to make much greater use of expertise
across the private, public and voluntary sectors at both national
and local level.
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Peter Hain said,
"Ten years of progress has transformed work and opportunity
in Britain - today the achievement of full employment and the
eradication of child poverty are no longer simply seen as
aspirational rallying calls - but as real targets that people
expect to be delivered for our generation.
"Today's reforms offer a step change in our approach -
with new support matched by new responsibilities. Those facing
particularly severe barriers to work will now get fast-tracked
help. Others who have a history of long-term benefit dependency
could face tougher responsibilities from the start of their claim.
And our reforms will not just be about getting people into work -
job retention and progression are the new standards against which
the success of welfare policy will be judged."
The Green Paper is published alongside 'World Class Skills -
Implementing the Leitch Review of Skills in England' which
sets out how the Government will respond the challenges
highlighted by Lord Leitch and improve the skills of the workforce
so they can access more job opportunities.
Notes to Editors:
1. In Work, Better Off: next steps to full employment Green Paper
is at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/welfarereform/in-work-better-off/
. The Government is seeking views on In Work, Better Off. The
consultation closes on 31 October 2007.
2. World Class Skills - Implementing the Leitch Review of Skills
in England is published by the Department for Innovation,
Universities and Skills today.
3. Peter Hain's Statement to Parliament is at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/aboutus/2007/18-07-07.asp
4. David Freud's report 'Reducing Dependency,
Increasing Opportunity: options for the future of welfare to
work,' was published 5 March 2007. http://www.dwp.gov.uk/welfarereform//freud_report.asp
5. Working for children (March 2007) is at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/childpoverty
6. Lisa Harker's report Delivering on Child Poverty (Nov
2006) is at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2006/harker/
Website: http://www.dwp.gov.uk