Photo Credit Flickr, NathanMac87
From the UK — Jobless young people will be made to attend “boot camps” in return for benefits as part of a new Conservative drive to bring a “no excuses” culture to youth employment.
Under the plan, anyone under 21 who is out of work and on benefits will have to take part in a three-week intensive course to help
them find employment or training.
They will have to sign up to the programme within a month of claiming benefits – or see those benefits stopped.
The course, which ministers are provocatively describing as a “boot camp”, includes practising job applications
and interview techniques. It is expected to take 71 hours to complete and benefits will be dependent on attendance.
The proposal is likely to be attacked by Labour for further stigmatising young people who can’t find work
while at the same time making it harder for them claim benefits.
The changes will come into force in April next year and form part of the Government’s wider drive to ensure that all young people are in a job, apprenticeship, traineeship or unpaid work experience
.
It is being overseen by a new Earn or Learn Taskforce headed by Matt Hancock, the Cabinet Office minister.
Announcing the plan, Mr Hancock said he was “determined” to end a “welfare culture” that had become embedded in some of Britain’s most vulnerable communities.
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