New Measures to Boost Success of Welfare to Work Drive

14 Nov 2002

New tax breaks Tax Credits and more help for vulnerable members of society to help them into work have been highlighted today by Scotland Office Minister Anne McGuire.

Speaking at the Support Training Action Group (STAG) conference in Stirling, the Minister outlined the range of new ways the Government was targetting assistance for young people, lone parents, and those with disabilities. The new measures include:

• An integrated system of support for children bringing together the Working Families Tax Credit, Income Support/Jobseekers Allowance and the Children’s Tax Credit. This will be introduced in April 2003;From April 2003 the Child Tax Credit will bring together the various strands of income related support for families;
• The Employment Tax Credit will replace Working Families Tax Credit and the Disabled Person’s Tax Credit, to extend the benefits to adults without children or disabilities;
• Tailored Pathways to allow New Deal Personal Advisors to give all young people personalised programmes to help them into work;
• Up to six months mixed work experience and learning provision for young people personalised to suit their needs;
• Lone parents to receive regular and mandatory work-focussed interviews to help them into work. Lone parents however, will not be forced into employment.
• Flexible New Deal follow-up interviews for the sick and disabled to take full account of their circumstances and abilities.

Anne McGuire said:

"These changes are designed to improve the service that is given to people to help them back into work. The measures will be carefully tailored to meet the needs of the individual and not the system.

"Employment is the key to prosperity and social inclusion. We all know unemployment is fertile ground for poverty, exclusion, despair and hopelessness. We know knew that the success of our welfare to work programme woould be vital if we were to see the kind of change that I came into politics to achieve."via New Deal and the New Tax Credits is vital if we are to see the kind of change that I came into politics to achieve.

To date New Deal has helped over 80,000 people into work, over 44,000 18 – 24 year olds into work, and around 11,000 people over 25. In addition, over 18,000 lone parents have been provided with intensive help and support in getting back to work and helping themselves and their families.

Addressing the vital role played by the voluntary sector in her speech to the conference Mrs McGuire said:

"The voluntary sector shares a fundamental belief of our that the New Deal is about helping people not number. The design of the New Deal rejects the ‘one size fits all’ mentality of previous employment programmes. The voluntary sector’s experience of working with people and the trust earned by volunteers makes an important contribution especially among groups who are most disadvantaged in society." "The voluntary sector led the way during the late 80’s and 90’s in working with unemployed people. At a time when government unemployment programmes thought that one size fitted all – voluntary organisations championed the cause that we should treat people as individuals. This is a fundamental principle of the New Deal – it is about people not numbers. Your experience of working with people and the trust earned by your staff has made an important contribution to shaping the success of the New Deal."