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.”