Written - Joint Operational Plan for Wales

I am pleased to announce that the Assembly Government has agreed a Joint Operational Plan with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Working with employers, trade unions, the third sector and others, the Joint Operational Plan formalises arrangements for the planning and delivery of policy and programmes where there is a joint responsibility. This marks a significant move towards a shared ambition of better planning and integration of employment, skills and other programmes.

In February 2010, I launched the Labour Market Framework with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. This set out the core principles of how we intend to take forward this shared ambition with the aim of : reducing the number of people who are unemployed or not economically active; raising the earnings of people who are in work; and improving services for employers. We asked the newly established Joint Employment Delivery Board for Wales to develop a Joint Operational Plan which sets out high level objectives and operational actions for 2010-11. The objectives and actions aim to deliver streamlined but effective, diverse programmes and services that contribute to reducing economic inactivity and to increasing the employment rates in line with the UK.  Specifically:  we want to focus actions on the delivery of programmes to tackle youth unemployment and long term unemployment.  We want to enable all disadvantaged groups to enter the labour market through diversity of programme delivery; we want to provide the skilled workforce that employers need; and we want to maximise opportunities created through regeneration.

The Joint Employment Delivery Board will now drive forward and monitor the operational plan and will report progress to Ministers on an annual basis.