Islwyn MP Chris Evans outlines his thinking behind the Islwyn Work Experience Programme – a new project launching on Friday to help unemployed youngsters.
In the past 12 months the number of young people who have been out of work for over a year in Islwyn has increased by 35%.
Now it is all very well quoting statistics but behind every figure is a young person whose skills are going un-utilised and whose confidence is slipping away.
I have lost count of the number of stories I have heard from young people who tell me they cannot find a job.
They tell me that endless job applications go unanswered and when they do receive a response it is to tell them they do not have any experience.
But if nobody will give young people a chance how are they meant to get experience on their CV?
In the 1980s the legacy of high levels of unemployment was a lost generation and after hearing countless stories from our young people about their struggles to find work, I am seriously concerned that history is repeating itself.
Frankly, we have heard enough rhetoric from politicians about jobs and unemployment and now is the time for action.
This is what motivated me to create the Islwyn Work Experience Programme.
The scheme is the first of its kind in Wales and offers 18-24 year olds the opportunity to gain experience by undertaking an eight week placement with a local employer.
Not only will this provide a young person with practical experience of a workplace but it will have no impact on their Jobs Seekers Allowance – enabling them to continue to look for permanent work.
Since inviting businesses in Islwyn to take part in the scheme in recent weeks I have been overwhelmed by the positive response of local employers.
Job Centre Plus has offered their support by helping sort through CVs and interviewing candidates, while Barclays Bank, who have recently created their own ‘LifeSkills’ work programme, have helped fund the booklet to accompany the launch.
On June 7th local businesses who have expressed an interest in the programme will be invited along to an event at Crosskeys College where they can find out more.
We have already had high profile companies, such as Barclays, commit to offering placements and I have no doubt that many more will sign up at the official launch and help give our young people an opportunity to show what they can do.
For more information about the scheme please contact my constituency office on 01495 231 990.
Christopher Evans
Labour MP for Islwyn
This is the heavily criticised Workfare programme under a different name. The same programme that caused companies such as Tesco , Argos , Superdrug and many others to be boycotted nationwide due to their involvement in the scheme. If there are jobs , then give people proper jobs ; not wait until they can get some free labour paid by the taxpayer .
So… Workfare under another name…!
If you ever want to know why people hate politicians and lobby against them for turning on the electorate that helped them get into office… Have a look at this article and ask if recycling failed previous projects and renaming them is value for money…
Why is this MP setting up a local workfare scheme, when the national schemes are already doing so much damage? Eight weeks will not provide work experience worth a sniff, and companies cannot give anybody useful training in such a short space of time. To be any use the work experience would have to be a lot longer. And what safeguards are in place to prevent companies from using young people to do work for free that they would otherwise have paid their own staff to do; and to ensure that they give something back for the unpaid labour such as an account of what skills the young person has gained from the placement, or a chance to gain a qualification from it, and a reference?
Workfare: where the tax payer pays the firm and the JSA of the worker, and takes away a job that should have a wage and proper Terms and Conditions.
People don't need 'work experience', they need jobs with wages. Ashamed of the Labour Party for pushing this.