Act sooner on those out of work, says Conservative candidate Margot James
20th October 2009
Stourbridge Conservative parliamentary candidate Margot James is backing local professionals made redundant in the recession who say they are not getting the support they need to return to work.
Ms James says that newly redundant professionals feel alienated as they do not fit into traditional demographics of people helped by employment centres, with young people hit especially hard.
Ms James was speaking after a recent visit to the Stourbridge Jobcentre Plus, which is being refurbished and expanded to meet rising demand for its services.
She said: "The West Midlands has suffered the worst increase in unemployment UK-wide and unfortunately, in terms of job losses, Stourbridge has suffered badly.
"It is therefore more important than ever that Stourbridge Jobcentre Plus - which thankfully escaped government cuts at the beginning of the year - continues and expands its excellent work.
She continued: "At the moment I'm hearing newly redundant professionals say they feel they're not getting the specialist help they need and that the government seems more interested in meeting targets than providing meaningful advice - this must be addressed."
Margot went on to praise the work of the Stourbridge branch, saying: "It is great that more advisors have been recruited, and I was delighted to hear that many of the new advisors are from private sector backgrounds with a more diverse mix of skills to help people back into work."
Currently, young people aged 18-24 have to be out of work for a year before they can access specialist support under the government's Flexible New Deal employment programme.
Under proposals recently announced at the Conservative Party Conference, young people out of work for six months would be eligible for more intensive support.
This would include a referral to a specialist employment support body, 100,000 additional apprenticeships, and 50,000 additional places at Further Education Colleges.
