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- Building Britain's future - Social enterprise to be part of £1bn job creation drive
Building Britain's future - Social enterprise to be part of £1bn job creation drive
| Published | 13 May 2009 |
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Social enterprises must play their part in tackling the economic downturn by creating at least 15,000 new jobs for the unemployed, funded by the Government's £1bn Future Jobs Fund, announced Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell today.
On a visit to one of London's top social enterprise employers, the Hoxton Apprentice restaurant, both Ministers called on social enterprises to contribute a significant proportion, at least ten percent, of the 150,000 jobs the Future Jobs Fund aims to create between now and 2011.
The Prime Minister invited leading Social Entrepreneurs including Gordon D'Silva, CEO Training for Life, Sally Reynolds, CEO Social Firms UK, and Tokunbo Ajasa-Oluwa, the founder of Catch22, into Downing Street this morning to discuss their ambitions for new social enterprise jobs.
The £1bn Future Jobs Fund, announced in the 2009 Budget, is aimed at preventing another generation from ending up on the 'long-term employment scrapheap'.
Today Hazel Blears is also announcing her intention to consult on proposals to move the £50m set aside for the Working Neighbourhoods Fund Reward to the Future Jobs Fund so Government can help even more people in work.
The Cabinet Ministers are clear that Britain's 55,000 social enterprises are ideally placed to contribute to the extra jobs to be created by the Future Jobs Fund because they can target young people or under-represented groups and help kick start the careers of people who find it difficult to get jobs.
The Future Jobs Fund is open for bids from today following the publication of the bidding criteria. Social enterprises should work closely with councils and other partners to develop bids.
Yesterday Hazel Blears, James Purnell, Peter Mandelson and Liam Byrne hosted a summit with social entrepreneurs at Coin Street Community Builders, a leading social enterprise and development trust, to discuss the jobs fund and the positive role for social enterprises during the downturn.
Hazel Blears said:
"Younger people deserve every possible chance to find a job after school but sometimes they need some extra help to reach their full potential and that is where social enterprises, like the Hoxton Apprentice, can give them a leg-up onto the career ladder.
"Social enterprises are ideally placed to play a leading role in the grassroots jobs campaign our jobs fund aims to create.
"We want to see social enterprises coming forward with ambitious proposals to stimulate new jobs that transform our communities and perhaps even find the next Jamie Oliver or Marco Pierre-White.''
James Purnell said:
"We will not abandon a generation of Britain's young people to the unemployment scrapheap. The £1bn Future Jobs Fund will create 150,000 new jobs, and we want social enterprises to get their share of this money to help them go from strength to strength.
"We want social enterprises to create at least 15,000 new jobs to help the next generation of social entrepreneurs get started. We want to give young people the chance to work and make real difference, by funding new jobs in companies working to build a better Britain. These jobs will help creative, committed people get the skills they need to be the social entrepreneurs of the future."
Jonathan Bland, Chief Executive of the Social Enterprise Coalition added:
"The inclusion of social enterprise within the Future Jobs Fund is a welcome recognition from DCLG and DWP that social enterprise has a significant role to play in rebuilding the economy, and we urge that the design and implementation of the Fund is effective in allowing social enterprises to bid for these jobs.
"Social enterprises have an excellent track record of creating jobs where jobs are needed most. In good times and in bad, they have been at the forefront of tackling unemployment and providing meaningful work to those most removed from the labour market. We look forward to hearing more about how the Fund can enable social enterprises to strengthen the job market in a lasting and meaningful way."
Gordon D'Silva, Founder and Chief Executive of Training for Life added:
"Social enterprise businesses like our Michelin recommended Hoxton Apprentice restaurant trains people, provides apprenticeships, creates jobs and generates profits that are reinvested in a business model that is not dependent on government subsidy to support its sustainability. I am therefore delighted that this new job creation initiative has all the potential of helping organisations like Training for Life to help create more jobs and more social businesses that are not only sustainable but also scalable."
Notes to editors
1. Information on the Future Jobs Fund can be found at: www.dwp.gov.uk/campaigns/futurejobsfund
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