Nuneaton MP Marcus Jones has welcomed the announcement from Government that a new Youth Contract has been launched. The Youth Contract draws together a range of additional help for unemployed young people, building on the support already available through Jobcentre Plus and the Work Programme.

The plans will provide more intensive support for all 18 – 24 year olds. This will include additional advisor time, more demanding signing requirements, extra work experience, sector-based work academy places and a new wage incentive scheme delivered through the Work Programme.

In addition, the Government is also making extra funding available to support the most vulnerable 16 and 17 year olds not in education, employment or training. This funding is aimed at helping them into learning, an apprenticeship or a job with training.

A range of new measures have been announced, including:

• 160,000 wage incentives to make it easier for employers to take on young people aged 18 – 24. A wage incentive will be worth £2,275, available as part of the Work Programme. This exceeds the recommendations by the CBI in their report on youth unemployment to help employer’s cover the cost of National Insurance contributions.
• An offer of a work experience place for every unemployed 18 - 24 year old who wants one, before they enter the Work Programme. An additional 250,000 places are being provided.
• Extra support through the Jobcentre Plus in the form of weekly, rather than fortnightly, signing-on. There will also be more time to talk to an advisor and a referral to a careers interview with the National Careers Service.
• At least 20,000 extra incentive payments worth £1500 each for employers to take on young people as apprentices.

 
Commenting on the announcement, Marcus said: “The Government is providing more support and more opportunities for young people but they are also, rightly, expecting more in return. The signing-on regime will be more demanding and those that drop out of a work experience placement without good reason will lose their benefits.

“The additional investment through the Youth Contract is significant and should help young people find learning, employment or a job with training, both in Nuneaton and throughout the UK. This is undoubtedly a challenging time and the issue of youth unemployment is high on the political agenda, so the steps taken by the Government are welcome. It’s really encouraging that there are providers already saying they are seeing considerably better results than they were under the Flexible New Deal."