The launch marks the government’s first major intervention to achieve an ambitious 80% employment rate and, it is hoped, will fuel growth as part of the Prime Minister’s stated objective to achieve a “decade of national renewal”.
In the plans announced in the White Paper, the outdated Jobcentre system will also be transformed into a new national jobs and careers service, focused on people’s skills and careers instead of just monitoring and managing benefit claims. Mayors and councils will be empowered to join up local work, health and skills support in ways that meet the specific needs of their local areas.
The government is also launching a new Youth Guarantee, so every young person has access to education or training to help them find a job and transforming the Apprenticeship Levy in England into a more flexible Growth and Skills Levy backed by £40 million to expand opportunities for young people to develop skills and get into work.
The launch comes as stark figures show almost one and a half million people are unemployed, over nine million people are inactive, and a record 2.8 million people are out of work due to long-term sickness. Young people have also been left behind with one in eight young people not in education, employment or training, and nine million adults lacking the essential skills they need to get on in work.
Underpinning this will be a commitment to tackle ill health as the biggest driver of inactivity by fixing the NHS. This will include deploying extra staff to cut waiting lists in areas of high inactivity, expanding access to mental health support, as well as a greater focus on prevention to stop people becoming ill in the first place.
“As a sector, logistics has careers to offer those looking for work,” says Bethany Windsor, Head of Skills Policy at Logistics UK, “so any measures which make our vacancies more visible and appealing to potential recruits is welcome news.
“Logistics UK has campaigned for some time on the need for a revitalisation of the Apprenticeship Levy, so the announcement of the new Growth and Skills Levy, that will provide employers with the flexibility they need when recruiting the workforce of tomorrow, is excellent news for our sector.”
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