A requirement for people who have been out of work for two years to do up to six months of valuable work experience to help them get jobs will be trialled in two pilot areas, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Yvette Cooper said today.
The Government has already announced that every young person unemployed for a year will be guaranteed a job, training or work placement, which will be compulsory. Now, for the minority who aren't able to find a job in two years, the Work for Your Benefit pilots will give people up to six months of intensive work experience which will help improve their employability.
The pilots will apply to people on Jobseeker’s Allowance who will already have been offered a range of alternative intensive support at an earlier stage in their claim – including training options, short term work trials, a recruitment subsidy for employers to take them on, or voluntary work in the local community. Participants will continue to receive Jobseeker’s Allowance.
The pilots will take place in Greater Manchester, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk and will run for two years from October 2010.
Yvette Cooper said:
"We are investing £5bn to help people who have lost their jobs. We are determined to give the right help and support to everyone who is unemployed. We want to make sure that short-term job losses are not allowed to turn into long-term unemployment which can scar communities for generations. The longer people are left out of work, and without recent work experience, the harder it is to get a new job."
Jobseekers will be required to participate in the Work for Your Benefit programme for up to six months, whilst still able to retain their benefit. Failure to participate may result in the sanction of benefits.
The work experience and employment support will be based on the specific needs of each jobseeker. Individual work experience placements will be found through the providers running the pilots.
An alternative Jobcentre Plus regime will also be tested in pilot areas. This will offer jobseekers, at the end of the Flexible New Deal, increased adviser contact and access to a personal support fund.
1. Work for Your Benefit (WfYB) pilots were a key part of the Green Paper “No one written off: reforming welfare to reform responsibility” published in July 2008 and the response “Raising expectations and increasing support: reforming welfare for the future” published in December 2008.
2. The Work for Your Benefit programme will consist of full-time (30 hours a week) work experience, backed up with flexible employment support.
3. There will be two pilots:
i) Greater Manchester
ii) Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk
4. Measures to support the introduction of the Work for Your Benefit programme have been included in the Welfare Reform Bill, currently in the House of Lords.
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