Government must tackle causes of Unemployment (Kirsty Williams AM )

Cymraeg
English

Kirsty Williams AM <info@kirstywilliams.org.uk>

Government must tackle causes of Unemployment

June 6, 2008 2:30 PM

Kirsty Williams AM, Welsh Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Economy, has welcomed the Westminster and Cardiff Governments' £32 million investment in getting people into employment in West Wales and the Valleys but has called upon WAG to make greater long-term investment in non-generic employment support services and in up-skilling the welsh population.

The number of IB claimants rose steeply under the Tories but since 1997 Labour has been content to focus on unemployment benefit numbers and ignore the huge hidden unemployment among the mentally ill, disabled and deprived.

Kirsty Williams commented: "There are many complex reasons behind why people can be on Incapacity Benefit -be it for reasons of mental or physical ill-health, lack of skills, poverty of aspiration, or being stuck in the benefit trap.

"Around 12 million people in the UK live in relative poverty, and life chances are determined more by your parents' income and employment than in almost any other developed country. Labour have consistently failed to address the real issues behind poverty and unemployment. In both Westminster and Cardiff they have failed to tackle educational inequalities, invest in mental health and to get "hard to reach" groups back into employment.

"In the long-term we need investment in education and skills in Wales, as put forward by the Leitch and Webb Reviews. We need investment in early years education through proper funding of the foundation phase. We need a pupil premium to target pupils with the greatest need - by helping to bring funding in schools with the most disadvantaged children up to private school levels.

"In Wales we need upfront investment in mental health and disability services, as a significant percentage of incapacity benefit claims are on the basis of mental ill health.

"At a Westminster level the Liberal Democrats would introduce a single Working Age Benefit and implement the Layard proposals to help those with mental health problems. We would also replace JobCentre Plus with a new "First Steps" Agency as part of an ambitious plan to use the voluntary and private sectors to deliver personalised support to help all individuals back into employment.

"We also need to make it worthwhile for those at the lower end of the earning bracket to get back into work, through fairer taxing."

"The Labour Government in Westminster and the Plaid-Labour Government in Cardiff must work together to radically and innovatively tackle the causes of unemployment rather than trying to plug the hole with money."