LONDON – Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday announced a 500-million-pound plan to tackle rising unemployment in a Britain, which faces a deepening recession.
As part of the plan, which he detailed at a conference of businesses, trade unions and welfare groups in London, employers will be paid to recruit and train the long-term unemployed, while the government will also fund increased numbers of training places and support for those looking for a job.
Brown said he expected the plan, which will be rolled out in April and spread over two years, will help half a million Britons into work or work-related training.
‘It is our determination that Britain lead the world in showing what we can do to help the unemployed and create the jobs of the future – and we can do it best in partnership,’ he told the conference.
Businesses will be awarded up to 2 500 pounds for each person who has been unemployed for more than six months whom they recruit and train. The government will also put forward a plan to provide school-leavers with a guarantee of a place at college, an apprenticeship or training while at work.
‘Now more than ever is the time to invest in our young people, in their skills and their talents – in training them for the future,’ Brown said.
‘This government will not leave millions of young people to pay – in lost chances and through years of hopelessness – the price for a global recession.’
Unemployment in Britain has been steadily rising in recent months as it counts the cost of the international economic downturn – the number of people claiming jobless benefits leapt in November by the biggest monthly amount for more than 17 years, official data showed last month.
– Nampa-AFP
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