On her first visit as Secretary of State, with the rest of the Ministerial team, Liz Kendall MP will confirm the three pillars of the Government’s Back to Work Plan:
- A new national jobs and career service to help get more people into work, and on in their work.
- New work, health and skills plans for the economically inactive, led by Mayors and local areas.
- A youth guarantee for all young people aged 18 to 21.
Under the DWP’s plan, Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service will be merged to get more people into work and to support those seeking better opportunities with the means to find better paid work.
The Youth Guarantee will mean more opportunities for training, an apprenticeship or help to find work for all young people aged 18-21 years old, to prevent young people becoming excluded from the world of work at a young age.
More disabled people and those with health conditions will be supported to enter and stay in work, by devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve.
Expect more incentives to be announced to reduce unemployment as the new government digs into this issue in the coming months.
As Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall said:
“Growth is our number one mission and, as the Chancellor said, our Back to Work Plan is central to achieving our plans.
“Economic inactivity is holding Britain back – it’s bad for people, it’s bad for businesses, and it’s bad for growth.
“It’s not good enough that the UK is the only G7 country with employment not back to pre-pandemic levels.”
But of course, the real test of these remarks is positive results following any necessary actions. We shall have to wait to see if these early changes have the expected results.