15th May 2009
By Graham Clews
The government pledged to create a national worklessness forum and launched its Future Jobs Fund following the announcement of the biggest rise in unemployment for almost 30 years.
Office for National Statistics figures, released on May 12, showed that UK unemployment rose by 244,000 from December to March, hitting 2.22 million. As well as being the biggest quarterly rise since 1981, the figure is also the highest jobless total since 1996, before Labour came to power.
The government responded by calling on social enterprises to help provide 10% of the 150,000 jobs it has promised to create through the Future Jobs Fund by 2011.
Local authorities and other organisations were able to submit bids to the fund from May 13. Speaking at the fund’s launch, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said she was considering moving £50m from the Working Neighbourhood Fund Reward scheme to the jobs fund.
The government announced its intention to create the national worklessness forum in response to a report by Stephen Houghton, the leader of Barnsley council, on ways local authorities could help tackle worklessness.
Local government minister John Healey said: ‘We want councils, who know their patch best, to lead grassroots job creation campaigns built by the community for the community.’
