§ Mr. LeightonTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give a detailed description of Employment Action, including how, apart from remuneration, it will differ from the old community programme; and what work it will undertake.
Mr. JacksonEmployment Action is a significant new initiative which will offer unemployed people the chance to keep their skills up to date by work experience on projects of value to the local community. It will provide work experience for 60,000 unemployed people in a full year. It will be targeted on people who have been unemployed for six months or more, including particularly those living in our inner cities.
Employment Action will differ from the community programme in three very significant ways. Firstly, help for individuals in finding jobs will be an integral part of the programme. Secondly, the opportunities it provides will be full-time. Thirdly, TECs and local enterprise companies in Scotland, will take the lead in organising the programme locally and in determining which projects of genuine local benefit will be supported.
The exact nature of the work carried out under Employment Action will be decided by the TECs and local enterprise companies with regard to the needs of the local community and of unemployed people.