Scale of job cuts for young people revealed | |
New research by Southampton’s Labour MPs has revealed the potentially devastating impact on Southampton of the government’s cuts to help young people into work. New projections suggest that hundreds of new jobs for young people in Hampshire will now not be funded, and over 900 further jobs are under threat as a direct result of the Coalition Government’s choice of cuts. On taking office, the Liberal-Tory government announced it was scrapping Labour’s Young Person’s Guarantee of a place in education, training or a job for every young person after 6 months of unemployment. The Tories have also announced they will cut £320 million from the Future Jobs Fund, used to fund jobs for young people paying at least the minimum wage. Figures from the House of Commons library confirm that in Southampton and Hampshire over 900 jobs have already been created because of the Future Jobs Fund. Labour’s planned 40% increase in the Fund could have created a further 360 jobs. Not only has the Coalition scrapped any chance of these jobs being created; they have also refused to guarantee the future of current placements after the current financial year. Alan Whitehead, Labour MP for Southampton Test, said: "The Future Jobs Fund gave young people experience at a real job and- crucially- a real CV. Previous schemes like the YTS never did that. Pulling the plug now will be a real blow for young people looking for work and for employers signed up to the scheme, who will now face extra costs for taking on new staff." John Denham, Labour MP for Southampton Itchen, said: "The Tories are betraying our young people. The only way to cut the deficit in a way that is sustainable is to get more people into work and paying taxes. Cutting schemes like the Future Jobs Fund mean more people out of work and claiming benefits. It’s bad economics and bad for our city." /Ends Notes for editors
Briefing on the Future Jobs Fund
The Tory-Lib Dem government says they will save £320m by cutting some employment programmes, including "ending further roll out of temporary jobs through the Young Person's Guarantee (Future Jobs Fund)" and removing recruitment subsidies from the Six Month Offer.
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/press_04_10.pdf page 3
Future Jobs Fund jobs are real jobs paid at least the minimum wage and at least six months long. It was funding as part of the extra £5bn discretionary borrowing the Labour government invested to help people back to work. The Labour government had promised and announced funding for 200,000 jobs through the Future Jobs Fund.
118,000 of the 200,000 jobs have been confirmed for individual organisations, with 80,000 more pledged, with bids and plans underway. The government has not said how many jobs will be cut, but these proposals imply cutting 40,000 to 80,000 youth jobs this year alone, and many more to be cut next year.
Future Jobs Fund jobs are funded at £6,500 per job, although the net cost is lower due to savings on unemployment benefit or other programmes - meaning that well over 40,000 jobs would need to be cut this year to save £320m.
On a pre-election visit to a Future Jobs Fund scheme in Liverpool, David Cameron said it was "a good scheme" and added "we've got to help people who are unemployed for a long time and social enterprises like this help. It demonstrates where giving more power and control to projects like these works"
http://www.sen.org.uk/news/david-cameron-visits-liverpool-promote-social-enterprise-campaign
In a letter to ACEVO on 28 April 2010, Theresa May said: "The Conservative position on the Future Jobs Fund...has been misrepresented by certain groups in the media. We have no plans to change existing FJF commitments. However it is essential that this support delivers long term sustainable work for those who take up FJF opportunities. If elected we will review the operation or the Fund to ensure this is the case..."
http://www.acevo.org.uk/Document.Doc?id=612
In a letter to ACEVO on 21 April 2010, Steve Webb said: "We have no plans to change or reduce existing government commitments to the Future Jobs Fund. We believe that more help is needed for young people, not less"
http://www.acevo.org.uk/Document.Doc?id=604
In previous recessions under the Tories, youth unemployment continued to rise for years after the end of the recession. It had already begun to fall under Labour after this recession – as a result of the extra support including the Future Jobs Fund.
When Labour left office, there were around 40% fewer young people signing on than under the Tories in the 1990s recession, and well over half of young people on JSA were coming off within three months - thanks to Labour's £5 billion investment in jobs, which the Tories opposed, including over 200,000 jobs under the Future Jobs Fund and a guarantee of a job, training or work-experience for all young people six months unemployed.
The youth claimant count is currently 440,000 – a drop of 50,000 since October, reflecting the extra help for young people including the Future Jobs Fund. The number of young people who are ILO unemployed is currently 941,000
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