Cameron starting regional tour with focus on jobs

The Government's New Enterprise Allowance will be expanded to help up to 40,000 unemployed people to set up new businesses over the next two years, the Prime Minister will announce.

The scheme will be made available to twice as many people as initially planned and after being launched in the North West later this month it will be available nationwide by the autumn.

A focus on jobs and economic growth comes amid Opposition claims that the coalition has been overly focused on cutting spending to reduce the budget deficit, with parts of Yorkshire likely to be badly hit by job losses in the public sector this year.

Ministers insist more jobs will be created in the private sector to compensate for those which are lost, and the New Enterprise Allowance comes on top of special measures already introduced for regions more reliant on the public sector including a National Insurance holiday for new firms which are setting up outside London and the South East.

Mr Cameron said: "Throughout this year and beyond we will be focused relentlessly on supporting growth and driving job creation across our economy. Backing new enterprises to start up and small businesses to grow will be what transforms our economy and will deliver the many thousands of new jobs we will see created this year.

"It is vital that we ensure businesses, and those people who find themselves out of work but have the drive and desire to set up their own business, have all the advice, support and mentoring they need. Together we can make the years ahead some of the most dynamic and entrepreneurial in our history."

The allowance will help unemployed people who want to start their own business and will be available to those who have been claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for more than six months.

Those taking it up will be entitled to mentoring and get financial support of up to around 2,000 to help them set up their firm as long as they prove their business idea is viable.

Mr Cameron also announced that an overhaul of the Government's online resources for business will be completed by April.

More than 170 publicly-funded websites are being streamlined into a single Government site for business at www.businesslink.gov

A network of at least 40,000 experienced business mentors will also be recruited to offer practical advice to existing firms and people who want to start a company.

Mr Cameron's regional tour will include a PM Direct event where he will be questioned by members of the public. He is also expected to campaign in the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election.