Proposals for cheaper travel
cards to encourage part-time workers to journey into London have received the
backing of the London Mayor today, at a campaign launched by the London Chamber
of Commerce.
Ken Livingstone claimed it was
an "excellent idea", but stressed that the financial implications of
the proposals had not yet been explored.
Speaking at the launch of the
chamber’s Skills and Employment Forum campaign to tackle skill shortages in the
capital, Livingstone claimed that employers had to help break the culture of
unemployment in underprivileged areas of London.
He said, "We are seeing a
third generation of kids growing up on dehumanising estates who have never
experienced regular work."
Iain Herbertson, chairman of
the forum and managing director of Manpower, also called for more senior
business people to become school governors. He said, "If businesses are
serious about tackling their own skills shortage problem, they need to build
links with schools and colleges on their doorstep who are providing the
workforce for the future."
Livingstone said, "It
cannot make sense that the capital still has pockets of unemployment which are
among the highest in the country while at the same time many firms are
struggling to fill vacancies."
