The
Government has unveiled plans to get 600,000 more people into work and cut
bureaucracy from employment programmes.
Chancellor
Gordon Brown said that the country is closer than ever to full employment.
"Our
aim is full employment in every community, and so today we are setting out the
next radical steps in our programme of reform. More choice, more devolution,
and more personalisation to extend and strengthen the New Deal," he said.
The
shake-up of the New Deal includes:
•
More freedom for Jobcentre Plus advisers to tailor training and support to each
individual’s needs
•
The creation of an intervention and sanction regime, with the possibility of
tougher and more frequent interviews
•
Giving local managers more power and control over budgets to buy training and
support to tackle local problems
•
Programmes to help people with specific problems, like former drug addicts,
alcoholics or the homeless.
Work
and pensions secretary Andrew Smith said: "This is a radical reform of our
employment programmes, to give personal advisers more freedom to tailor
employment support to meet the needs of individuals and help fill the 600,000
vacancies in the economy."
