Temporary jobs to help workless

MORE than 350 temporary jobs are being created in Hull to try to get the unemployed back into work. The 360 positions with 11 community sector organisations will start being advertised next month as part of efforts to reduce jobless levels in the city. Figures out last week showed that the number of people claiming out-of-work benefits in Hull has now passed 1997 figures. The money is being made available through the Future Jobs Fund, a Government initiative which allows organisations, including Unity in Community, Dove House and Hull DOC, to take on workers in jobs that demonstrate a “community benefit.” Throughout the UK some 170,000 similar jobs are being created. Each job costs the taxpayer around 6,500. The work available covers a wide range – from gardening, through catering to “regeneration assistants”. Others include work on a community farm, as receptionists and labouring jobs, which should give people experience and new skills. They are all aimed at people who have been out of work for six months or more, with a third of all the jobs earmarked for those aged 18 to 24. People will get paid minimum wage and in Hull are guaranteed a 35-hour week – making it financially worthwhile to get a job rather than stay on the dole. The move builds on another major programme called the Local Work Guarantee which has seen 800 people from the city get permanent jobs so far, and that of other organisations delivering Future Jobs Fund work. Investment programme manager Bob Ferraby said the programme aimed to get people into long-term jobs at the end of six months. He said: “The opportunities available to people who are unemployed are much wider and better quality than they have been for years. “People can go into the Jobcentre and if they are interested in one of the opportunities, they’ll arrange an interview. “There’s no forms to fill in and the process is kept as unbureaucratic as possible.” After four months people on the scheme are available for a free work trial with potential permanent employers. Despite the gloomy economic outlook, Mark Jones, head of economic development and regeneration at the city council, said there were some signs of recovery. He said: “ Some sectors are starting to show signs of coming out of recession but we are only just over the bottom of the trough. Every caravan company that came under pressure has now relaunched and in port-related companies we are also starting to see some signs of uplift, as well as the manufacturing and engineering sector. However one of the biggest uncertainties is access to finance for the small and medium enterprises.” Historically Hull has high unemployment levels but usually the figures hover around the 7,500 to 8,000 mark. Figures out last week showed that the number of those on jobseekers allowance had risen to 15,004, or 8.9 per cent of the working-age population, after another 600 people signed on between December and January. Another 14,000 are on long-term incapacity benefits. Meanwhile 40 jobs are being offered at the Defence School of Army Transport at Leconfield, near Beverley. The specialised driver instructor posts offer salaries of between 22,000 to 31,000 and would suit experienced ex-military or Territorial Army personnel. The need for more drivers comes with the escalation of Operation Moshtarak, a massive joint UK, US and Afghan assault on insurgent strongholds in southern Afghanistan. alex.wood@ypn.co.uk