1 July 2008

Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP

Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform

National “Local Employment Partnership awards”

Brit Oval

Tuesday, 1st July 2008

[Check against delivery]

 

National LEP Awards

I am delighted to be here, and thank you Tim for setting the scene for these first national Local Employment Partnership awards.

This venue is very familiar with the celebration of outstanding success and talent on the part of teams and individuals. And today we are doing that not for achievements on the cricket field but in the world of work.

We want today to recognise those employers who are going the extra mile to provide job opportunities to people, allowing them to get into, and on in, work. I am also delighted that we are able to celebrate the personal achievements of employees whose lives are being transformed by moving from benefits into work.

Last month’s employment figures showed a new record number of people in work in the UK – 29.55 million people in jobs, more than we have ever had before. And we are determined now to take advantage of that opportunity to extend the benefits of work out to individuals – and deeper into communities – where the privileges of work have not too often been absent in the past. And we need the kind of help we are celebrating today to enable us to do it.

These awards mark the first full year of Local Employment Partnerships. They are a collaboration between Government and employers to tackle the growing challenges of recruitment and skills. And our aim is an ambitious one – to help more than 250,000 people into jobs through this initiative by the end of 2010.

Local Employment Partnerships are a ‘deal’ between Government and employers – a step change in approach, with Government taking responsibility by preparing people for work and working with employers in a new, more collaborative way.

The deal is:

• Jobcentre Plus and its partners, for its part, invests to get people – who may well have been out of a job for some time and so at a disadvantage in the labour market – ready for work, and
• Employers, for their part, give those applicants a fair shot at the vacancies they have – through offers like guaranteed interviews, work placements, work trials and mentoring.

So far across the UK over 2,000 employers are working with us on such a ‘deal’, covering all the major sectors, and over 12,000 people have now been recruited through the Partnerships. Last week was a great milestone for us because, for the first time, over 1,000 moved into work through LEP. By the autumn, we expect several thousand people every month to be coming through, on the way to our quarter of a million target, and we still have a lot to do.

It’s really only through having strong and effective partnerships with employers like those here today that we can really make a difference in getting more people into jobs. We know we need to do a better job for employers – and through Local Employment Partnerships, a lot of employers are telling me that is exactly what we are now doing. And I want us to do better still in the future, so that many more people who thought they would never have the chance of a job find their life transformed by the opportunity to move into work – not just to get a job but thrive in it.

The integration of skills support with employment support is also key to our plans. In the future, we want people to be offered support in skills development alongside help in finding a job. Skills screening for all new jobcentre claimants will help identify the skills people need to move from benefits into work, and then to progress when in work.

Employers of all sizes need access to our full range of skills and recruitment services. Our support for employers must become more flexible, and responsive to the needs of individual businesses. And we need you to help us do a better job in meeting your needs – so you can take more of our customers into your workforce.

Local Employment Partnerships are an early example of action to join up employment and skills support for employers and individuals. We are working with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills to ensure that our work with employers is not just about getting people into a job, but also about developing their skills so they can progress once in employment.  

We’re encouraging employers committing to Local Employment Partnerships to sign the Skills Pledge as well – a voluntary, public commitment to support all employees to develop their basic skills, and work towards qualifications to at least Level 2.

In England, employers are also encouraged to take advantage of the support available through “Train to Gain” to develop the skills of people in their workforce. Last month we published further proposals to give people the skills they need, and to help people take control of their own skills needs. We are working with the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Government to join up the employment and skills offers in Wales and Scotland too.

In the six months since becoming Minister for Employment & Welfare Reform I have met with dozens of employers in many parts of the UK who have given people a chance at a job, people once ‘written off’ by society and by the state as unable to work. That is the reason we are here – to celebrate employers working successfully with Jobcentre Plus and realising the untapped potential of people – changing their lives for the better.

It’s great news for the employers, who tell me they are finding wonderful, committed employees through this route.

It’s great news for the individuals whose lives are being transformed – who are better off, but also feeling better about themselves, getting a social life again as someone in Hull told me yesterday.

And its great news for our economy, increasingly able to do well given all the challenges of globalisation.

These Awards generated over 130 entries. I know the judges had a difficult time arriving at the list of winners. My personal thanks to them for taking time from their day jobs to do this with us. And thanks to all of you who have joined us today – whether or not you have been short-listed for an award, thank you for taking part, and please get involved again next year.

Good luck to all those short-listed for the awards this afternoon – and for your work and your business in the months ahead!

Now, back to Tim, for the presentation of the Local Employment Partnership Awards 2008.

Thank you.