12 Jan 2009
The Secretary of State has welcomed new support plans for the unemployed and has vowed that "the longer you are out of work, the harder we will work with you to get you back into employment".
He was speaking as the UK Government announced it is to invest in a substantial new package to provide intensive support for people who find themselves out of work for more than six months. Jim Murphy attended the Prime Minister's Employment Summit at the Science Museum in London today along with Scottish business and trade union leaders.
This extra help will be flexible, personally tailored to each individual who takes it up and accessible to jobseekers who have been out of work for six months. Help will be given at the discretion of Jobcentre Plus Personal Advisers who will spend extra time with each jobseeker to identify what works best for them. This offer, led by the Department of Work and Pensions and supported by £500m of new investment across the UK over the next two years, includes access to money and support for people who want to set up their own businesses; cash incentives for employers who recruit and train unemployed people; training to improve people's skills so they have a better chance of getting a job; and opportunities to volunteer whilst looking for a job.
Many of these new measures - extra support for Jobcentre Plus, recruitment incentives for employers, volunteering opportunities and support for the self-employed -Â will apply directly in Scotland. The training-based elements (which will be funded in England by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills) are in devolved areas, and it will be for the Scottish Government to consider the nature of any further training support they wish to provide to help the long-term unemployed get back into work. Scottish Government officials have been invited to the Prime Minister's employment summit.
Jim Murphy said: "We are making it crystal clear today that the longer you are out of work, the harder we will work with you to get you back into employment."
"The UK Government has already taken a range of steps to help right the economy in the short term. We've put £37bn into the banking system to ensure stability in the financial sector, and we've given a £20bn boost to the economy through measures in the Pre-Budget Report of which up to £2bn is going straight into the Scottish economy. But these are short-term measures to keep the country on an even keel in the face of unprecedented global economic challenges.
"We understand that we will also need to provide real help to get individual Scots back into work. We are determined that those who lose their job as a result of the financial crisis will not be written off or forced to languish in long-term unemployment. We will not allow this to happen, and this is why we are investing now in this intensive support to help match people to the many vacancies that still exist in the labour market â?" of which there are half a million nationwide."
"This new support is in addition to the £1.3 billion already being invested so that anyone who loses their job can access help and support on the first day they become unemployed and make a claim."
The Prime Minister's Employment Summit in London today will bring together over 100 business leaders, academics, skills and training providers, trade unions and employer groups with members of the Cabinet to work out what needs to be done to help the UK kick on out of the economic downturn.
ends
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News Release: SS1463
Date: 12 Jan 2009