£65m deprived areas fund to fight unemployment

Posted in News on the June 25th, 2007

A fund of £65 million has been launched to fight unemployment in deprived areas across the UK.

The Deprived Areas fund is being made available over the next two years to Pathfinders by the secretary of state for work and pensions, John Hutton, as part of the City Strategy.

Speaking in Birmingham today, Mr John Hutton said that business plans had now been agreed by the Pathfinders as well as targets to reduce the number of people on benefits.

"While in health and education we have made rapid progress in moving towards a more devolved, less centralised, less target-driven model - in welfare reform we’ve got more to do.

"We need to develop the right framework to encourage and reward investment and improved performance - and we should draw on the full potential of private and voluntary providers - especially the expertise of local organisations to innovate and develop solutions tailored to their local area," he added.

Mr Hutton also announced the development of the Learning Network as a means of supporting the Pathfinders.

Managed by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion, it will provide a forum for the Pathfinders to stimulate new ideas and share good practice.

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