Ending the Future Jobs Fund early could have a negative effect on unemployment figures warns MPs.
The Work and Pensions Committee call for the government to come up with an alternative solution to ending the Future Jobs Fund early.
The Work and Pensions Committee have warned the government that ending the Future Jobs Fund early could have a negative effect on UK youth unemployment figures.
The £1 billion fund, which was set up to help young people get into unemployment, is due to end in March – a year earlier than planned. The Work Programme scheme has been designed to replace the fund but won’t come into force in June – something which the committee believe is simply not good enough.
The Work and Pensions Committee are now calling for proper transitional arrangements to be put in place and have made 23 recommendations to the government over the proposed early termination of the scheme. They’re also calling for more money to be made available for apprenticeships.
“Young people, especially those who may be lacking skills, experience and confidence, need appropriate and sometimes intensive support to find work, otherwise they risk falling into long-term unemployment,” said the Committee’s chairman Anne Begg. “Providing this support is even more important during these difficult economic times.”
The Future Jobs Fund was created by the previous Labour government to provide temporary employment for young people (18-24 years old) who had been out of work for 6 months or longer. They hoped the fund would help to ease the UK’s unemployment figures which remained stagnant throughout the economic downturn.
Recent figures from the National Office of Statistics show UK unemployment rose by 35,000 to 2.5 million in the 3 months leading to October.
