750,000 people into work with Labour – Cooper

Yvette Cooper MP, Labour's Work and Pensions Secretary today announces that the government is expanding local employment partnerships to help a total of 750, 000 people into work by the end of next year.

The Work and Pensions Secretary will tell Labour conference that the partnership has proved so successful that it has met its original target of 250,000 a year early. So the government is trebling that target so that a further half a million people - the majority of whom are long term unemployed - will benefit from the partnership programme.

Yvette Cooper said:

“These partnerships have already successfully helped hundreds of thousands of people into jobs, but we must do more. That’s why we’re increasi ng the help so that half a million more people will be supported into a job.

“When the Tories turned their back in the 80s, entire generations paid the price. Never again must we lose a generation from work.”

Local Employment Partnerships bring Job Centre Plus together with local employers to match people who are out of work with the jobs they’re trying to fill.

JCP makes sure people have all the preparation – including pre-employment tailored training courses – and support they need to meet the employers’ needs and expectations.

In return the employers agree to give people a fair shot at the job – either by running work trials, mentoring or simply agreeing to interview someone they wouldn’t necessarily consider because they’ve been out of work long term.