Youngsters struggling to find work will be steered are to be advised to enrol in unpaid training programmes or towards unpaid training or volunteering, the government has announced.
Iain Duncan, the Work and Pensions Secretary and other various organisations plan to set up stalls in Jobcentre Plus offices after agreeing a deal to be rubber-stamped by ministers today.
The move comes after youth unemployment leapt from 32,000 to 951,000 in November.
many belive that the new scheme avoids the issue of job creation for Britians youngetsres and merley acts a a cover to reduce unemployment figures.Critics said the scheme could merely ‘massage’ jobless statistics while distracting from the creation of much needed new jobs for young people. Britain’s jobless total is 2.5million – an unemployment rate of 7.9 per cent, rising to 20.3 per cent among those aged 16 to 24.
Suzanne Beishon, from protest group Youth Fight For Jobs, said: ‘Volunteering is all very well but there’s a risk it’s just using young people as cheap labour, before kicking them back on the dole – there are no jobs being created. At the same time, this government is raising tuition fees and scrapping the educational maintenance allowance, both of which would keep young people in education.’
Work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, who is behind the plans, said: ‘I am delighted this partnership will mean thousands of volunteering opportunities for jobseekers. For some it will be a chance to get some valuable experience and gain skills after years without work.’
Prince’s Trust chief executive Martina Milburn said: ‘This partnership will help us reach thousands more disadvantaged young people, giving them the skills and confidence to break out of long-term unemployment and poverty.’
