Young Londoners struggling to find a job could be forced to carry out work experience with community groups in order to qualify for benefits.
About 10,000 with no job history would be placed short-term in areas such as the environment, youth work and caring for the elderly, in return for £56 a week jobseeker’s allowance. Their employers’ costs would be covered.
Mayor Boris Johnson has been in talks with employment minister Chris Grayling to work out details of the £12 million Work Programme pilot, expected this autumn.
The politicians want to prevent young people moving straight from education on to benefits, so tackling soaring youth unemployment. Funded by the work and pensions department and City Hall, the scheme will focus on 18- to 24-year-olds in parts of London worst hit by last summer’s riots, such as Tottenham and Croydon.
“This scheme will be highly innovative, focusing not on the private sector but on projects that are community based, targeting young Londoners who are struggling to get a foot on the working ladder in some of the areas worst hit by last summer’s riots,” said a spokesman for the Mayor.
However, Len Duvall, Labour leader on the London Assembly, said: “Work experience is good for everyone to have on their CV but it always becomes a bit more difficult when it is enforced. It’s difficult for the people who have to work with those youngsters who don’t really want to be there.
“Some of the youngsters who you’re dealing with have some very deep-rooted problems and I don’t think work experience is going to deal with those. A broad-brush approach might not be appropriate.
“No matter how laudable this idea is, it might well be problematic. For
example, are we going to put inexperienced young people into working environments with vulnerable people, such as the elderly or mentally ill? The devil will be in the detail.”
