Scrapped scheme had helped 700 get a job

A SCRAPPED scheme aimed at getting young people into work helped get more than 700 off the dole queue across Oldham.

Figures show the Future Jobs fund, a £1 billion scheme set up by the former Labour Government to help mainly young people back into work, benefited 330 young people in Oldham East and Saddleworth, 370 in Oldham West and Royton and a further 410 in Ashton, which includes Failsworth. It gave businesses in unemployment hotspots up to £6,500 for creating jobs that would last at least six months.

The scheme was the one of the first to be scrapped by the Coalition last year. Nationally 105,230 young people benefited.

Oldham West and Royton MP Michael Meacher said: “Even before we got to the state we are in now, this was needed. Now we have more than a million 18-24 year-olds not working, and it is going up faster than ever before. Scrapping the future jobs fund was irresponsible and short-sighted and deeply unjust.”

The Coalition said the temporary nature of the fully-subsidised jobs provided a poor return, compared with other less-expensive employment schemes.

Prime Minister David Cameron previously branded it “one of the most ineffective job schemes there’s been.”

The Government has since announced taht £4.5 million will be given to colleges in areas of especially high youth unemployment to set up around 250,000 extra work experience placements.