Written - Expansion of the Young Person’s Guarantee

In December 2009, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published a White Paper, Building Britain’s Recovery: Achieving Full Employment. The White Paper announced DWP’s intention to bring forward eligibility for the Young Person’s Guarantee to the six month stage of unemployment. The Young Person’s Guarantee provides a guaranteed offer of a job, work placement or training place for all long-term unemployed 18-24 year olds. 

I have committed to deliver the Young Person’s Guarantee in Wales and am pleased to announce that I will be allocating additional funding amounting to nearly £5m to deliver the Guarantee in Wales against the expanded eligibility criteria. This funding is in addition to a £20.5m package to support youth unemployment which we secured in the December 2009 budget.  

The additional funding for the Young Person’s Guarantee will enable more young people in Wales to benefit from the scheme and to secure the skills they need to find satisfying and sustainable careers. It will enable us to:

• Provide additional places of the full-time work-focussed training programme;
• Provide training support for young people entering employment through the Routes into Work initiative so that they are better able to sustain their employment;
• Provide training support for young people entering temporary employment through the Future Jobs Fund so that they acquire a range of skills that will help to ensure they can progress to permanent employment as soon as possible.

The Young Person’s Guarantee is an important part of our response to the recession. My officials will work closely with the DWP and JobCentre Plus in Wales to ensure that the Guarantee delivers real benefits for young people and the communities in which they live by helping them to develop the skills they need to find and to sustain employment.