Boost for firms who take on unemployed
Mar 19 2008 by Sue Scott, Evening Gazette
GOVERNMENT PLANS to offer private firms and voluntary groups cash rewards to get unemployed people into work have been warmly welcomed in Teesside.
The plans involve about 250,000 long-term unemployed people and all new claimants for sickness benefits.
The Work and Pensions Secretary, James Purnell, said a “radical blueprint” was needed to get people into "sustainable" jobs.
“The move is a major boost for hundreds of thousands of long-term unemployed people who want to work but who need additional support in order to overcome various obstacles,” said Steve King, managing director of Pertemps People Development Group, with offices in Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland.
PPDG has been running Employment Zone for nearly four years - during which time more than 5,100 formerly unemployed people have secured jobs.
“What the Government has announced makes absolute sense and it is an approach that we have been advocating for many years.
“We are extremely successful at finding employment for people, but our task is not simply to find someone a job. We have to overcome the many barriers that our client group faces including issues such as debt or childcare,” he added.
“Somebody who is longer-term unemployed may need to make the transition into employment with the intervention of more than one organisation. We have developed a network of support agencies who are all experts in their fields.
“We are using the strength and expertise of an holistic approach in order to support the rehabilitation and the reintegration of people into work. This is a vehicle the Government recognises as a productive way forward and it is a successful model that needs to be expanded upon.
“Sustainability for those entering employment is a crucial factor and of those we help into work, around 80% retain their jobs beyond the accepted benchmark of 13 weeks.”
PPDG is recognised as one of the UK’s leading providers of Government funded Welfare to Work initiatives. Since 2000, it has engaged with around 130,000 long term unemployed people and helped more than half of those into sustainable employment.
Work and Pensions Secretary Mr Purnell will unveil plans later for a “commissioning strategy”, that will see more private companies and voluntary groups involved in finding work for people on benefits.
New contractors are expected to be offered incentives for getting people into work for at least six months, with further incentives planned in the future for increasing it to 18 months. In return, they will get larger contracts which last up to seven years - twice as long as usual.
