Thank you for contacting me about employment in the UK.
I am determined that everyone should be able to find a job, progress in work and thrive in the labour market in the UK.
There are a record 29.6 million workers on payrolls in the UK, with the employment rate near a record high at 75.6 per cent. Likewise, the unemployment rate is near a historic low of 3.8 per cent. There are a record 1.3 million job vacancies in the economy. This means that the first time since records began, there are now fewer unemployed people than job vacancies in the economy.
I strongly welcome the Plan for Jobs which includes the three-year £2.9 billion Restart Scheme to help more than one million unemployed people find work through enhanced and tailored support. Referrals from providers began in July 2021.
I welcome that those looking for work will receive further help through the ‘Way to Work’ campaign. The campaign will require those in the intensive work search group of Universal Credit recipients to search more widely for work after the fourth week of their claim, rather than from the current three months.
The Kickstart scheme, which ran from September 2020 - March 2022, provided 160,000 Kickstart jobs to young people. Youth unemployment has decreased from 11.8 per cent in the three months to February 2020, to 10.8 percent in the three months to April 2022.
I am also glad that the Department of Work and Pensions has doubled the number of Work Coaches in Job Centres to 27,000 as well as creating a new, online one-to-one Job Finding Support offer. This is providing invaluable support for those looking for work.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.