Government initiative to get people back into

A new scheme has been unveiled by the government targeted at getting people back into work in order to improve social mobility and tackle child poverty.

Unveiled by minister for employment Caroline Flint and skills minister David Lammy, the new Employability Skills programme aims to help people to improve their skills, find a job and enjoy career progression.

Jointly developed by the Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, Jobcentre Plus and the Learning and Skills Council, the initiative is intended to meet the needs of Jobcentre Plus customers.

Under the scheme, participants will work towards an Employability Award that is based on the skills, behaviours and attitudes that employers want to see in potential employees.

With more than 640,000 vacancies across the UK, the government is eager to improve the work prospects of people trapped in a cycle of low-skilled jobs and periods of unemployment.

"It is important that low-skilled unemployed people have access to flexible training which gives them the skills that employers value, to help them get jobs and progress in work," Mr Lammy said. "The Employability Skills programme will provide this access and will be hugely important for people trapped by a lack of skills between dead-end jobs and periods of unemployment."

Recent papers World Class Skills: Implementing the Leitch Review of Skills in England and In Work, Better Off: Next Steps to Full Employment call for better access to flexible training to make people more employable.

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Date:02/08/2007 11:03:34