Kevin Brennan

Labour Party | Cardiff West

Launch of StepUP Pilot Scheme Speech

Croeso/Good morning. I would like to thank you all for coming this morning for the launch to the StepUP scheme pilot here in Cardiff. I would also like to thank Sheelagh for inviting me to come and talk to you today outlining the Government's hopes for the scheme.

Since it was first elected in 1997, the Government has been committed to getting the unemployed off benefits and back into work. The various New Deal schemes have helped thousands of men and women return to the labour market, many after periods of protracted unemployment. In particular, The New Deal for Young People has been successful in significantly reducing long-term youth unemployment. From April 2001, Jobcentre Plus has built on this success by introducing a similar scheme for the over 25s - the New Deal 25 plus.

Despite the success of the New Deal – and we must remember that we currently have the lowest level of unemployment in Great Britain for more than a quarter of a century – there remain around one in ten people for whom unemployment persists for more than six months after the completion of the scheme.

StepUP has been specifically devised to help this 10% get into work.

The StepUP scheme was unveiled by Nick Brown, the Minister for Work, in February of this year, with the express purpose of providing guaranteed jobs in areas of high unemployment. The scheme – into which the Government has invested £40 million – has been designed for those people who have not been able to find full-time work after a New Deal programme.

StepUP will be operating in 20 pilot areas by the end of 2002. Six have already been unveiled, and Cardiff, along with Sheffield, Sunderland, Lambeth and East Ayrshire, is one of them. In Cardiff, three wards have been selected as eligible – Grangetown, where we are currently, in the Cardiff South and Penarth constituency of my Rt. Hon. Friend Alun Michael, and Caerau and Ely in my constituency of Cardiff West.

In a nutshell, the scheme will aim to provide greater leeway to those who are amongst the long term unemployed. Under the present system, they are identified and re-enter the New Deal after a qualifying period of six months has elapsed. Under the new scheme, clients living in selected wards within pilot areas will at this point be referred to StepUP. This is the point at which those aged between 18 and 24 would usually be referred back to the New Deal for the second time, whilst for those aged over 25, it is a full six months earlier than their second New Deal referral.

At this point, rather than referring them back to the New Deal, StepUP will help them into work, by putting them into work.

What does this mean exactly? Essentially, anyone who lives in one of the selected wards and who is still unemployed after completing the New Deal will be eligible for help under the scheme.

Once this eligibility hurdle has been surmounted, each person covered by the scheme will be seen by an Adviser, who will assess their work experience and preferences and explain to them the variety of job opportunities on offer within their locality. It is hoped that most opportunities will be full-time - the equivalent of 33 hours per week - with part-time jobs available to those clients with restrictions on their Jobseeker's Agreement. The client will then choose where he or she wishes to be employed. An initial meeting with the employer will be set up immediately, and the client will commence their employment shortly afterwards, staying with their employer for up to 50 weeks.

The beauty of the scheme is that participants will be treated the same as any other member of the workforce. Once in employment, they will be paid at least the adult National Minimum Wage; they will also pay Income Tax and National Insurance contributions on their earnings. They will also be assisted in adapting to the changes that full-time employment will make to their lives.

The idea is that, with the help of the participating employing organizations and the StepUP advisors, that the people helped by the scheme will overcome some of the barriers that inhibit the take up of employment. Help will be offered with completing CVs and job applications and. Perhaps more importantly, all participants will be provided with an employability reference telling employers about their attendance, attitude to work and time keeping. In this way, the employing organisation will help their employees overcome some of the barriers which inhibit the take-up of employment.

It is hoped that StepUP jobs will be available in a wide variety of occupations which reflect the needs of the local labour market. Most of the jobs will probably be in the public or voluntary sector, though, like our host today, a number of jobs will be available in the private sector too.

I believe that the StepUP is an exiting, innovative scheme, providing the persistent long-term unemployed with jobs and an environment in which they can flourish. I am also very pleased that Cardiff has been selected as one of the pilot areas, as the city has pockets of deprivations and a disturbing incidence of long-term unemployment which both need to be addressed. I look forward, over the coming months and years to watching, and participating in, the success of this scheme and the material benefits it will bring to the people of Grangetown, Caerau and Ely.