we need a programme for jobs now

Commenting on figures which show West Lancashire’s jobless total on the rise once again, with the number of people jobless for more than 12 months having doubled in the past 7 months, Adrian Owens, the Conservative General Election candidate today called for additional action on jobs.

Adrian said, “It is the private sector which will create the jobs that local people without work need. Business taxes need to be lowered and simplified and the planned rise in National Insurance contributions, which is a tax on jobs needs to be halted if possible. We’ll also abolish tax on the first ten jobs created by new businesses within the first two years of a Conservative government. Conservatives recognise that it’s the private sector that will lead this recovery.”

The Conservative prospective MP commented that beyond that there was a need to up skill people for a changing job market and help the more than 300 people in West Lancashire who have now been without a job for more than a year. He said that The Work Programme proposed by the Conservatives will offer people targeted, personalised help sooner than under the New Deal.

“We will open up the system to new welfare to work providers. Providers will be paid by results, driving up quality and encouraging innovation. If providers don’t place someone in a sustainable job, they won’t earn their fee. Crucially too, we’ll have a differential payment system, whereby providers will earn more for helping those who need the most support. This will discourage them from ignoring the hardest to help and only working with the easier cases.”

Adrian, who is also currently the Borough council’s Regeneration portfolio holder said that the council was working to help people start new enterprises and was offering some highly attractive rents on business premises to attract new employers. He added, “This may also be the time for the public sector to explore apprenticeships and this is something I have currently asked our officers to explore at the Borough council. The wider local strategic partnership of public agencies is also looking to invest in helping young workers onto the employment ladder.”

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