Rishi Sunak is emulating Labour’s New Deal – David Blunkett

I listened carefully, therefore, to the Chancellor’s statement on Wednesday and to the much hailed measures which he spelt out. How could I not welcome them? I have over recent weeks advocated many of the measures myself, not least those targeted at the under 25s. 

The one I hadn’t spotted was the subsidy from Monday to Wednesday during August for a ‘meal deal’ of 50 per cent off – up to a maximum of £10 per head. Ironically, it will probably most benefit the lunching out of those in retirement.

But the main thrust was the extremely welcome £2bn package for a six-month subsidy for job placements for 18 to 25-year-olds. It mirrors the New Deal for the young unemployed which I put in place with the backing of Gordon Brown back in 1997/8 and the Future Jobs Fund, started after the global meltdown in 2008.

The two lessons learned from previous experiences of this kind were very simple. There has to be training attached, and there must be some prospect of remaining in that employment after the subsidy is over. 

Without that commitment, all you achieve is a new cliff edge, coupled with disillusionment and hopelessness. But there were also a couple of other lessons. The first was the need to decentralise the organisation and management of the programme. It should, in other words, be organised locally.

The lesson that should have been learnt from the handling of Covid-19, not least in terms of test and trace but also in getting children back into school, is that you cannot do this from the centre. Creating an enormous national bureaucracy, and then blaming it for failure, is a recipe for disaster.

However 10 years of the most vicious austerity have reduced the capacity of local authorities to be able to respond. They have in fact been the butt of politically driven ideology which, frankly, saw them as nothing more than a nuisance rather than a vital part of our democratic process.

The second lesson is very simple. You need employers to be on board. Simply appealing to them to keep a member of staff on in November and December, and to offer them £1,000 to do so, won’t do unless you are clearly listening to the sector. 

Crucially, and this lesson was learnt in 1997-98, for them to find their way through the myriad announcements, there must be a well-organised campaign to sign up employers of all sizes in both the public and private sector to make the most of the opportunities.

That is what we did over 20 years ago. A hundred thousand employers were signed up in under six months, working with business organisations and the trade unions and ensuring that everyone felt that they were putting the shoulder to the national wheel at the time of an employment crisis. 

Things are a great deal worse now. Then we were endeavouring to overcome the legacy of the 1980s and 90s in terms of youth unemployment and those who been out of work for over two years.

I also welcome one of the less publicised parts of the package. A billion pounds for the DWP for employing (and of course they have to be recruited) job advisers.

As a former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, I know very clearly how important it was that job centre staff were both trained – and equipped – to be able to offer individuals and employers personalised and well informed advice, and to help them navigate the maze of options.

In Yorkshire, I hope that we can organise locally and challenge the Government to help fund the programmes put together.

From local government to large regional employers, the challenge I think must be down to us. Waiting will only result in those losing their job when furlough ends, finding themselves competing on the job market with young people who have never yet had a job.

One final thought.

The Education Secretary, Gavin Williamson, in his speech on Thursday, at last recognised the critical role for Further Education. Time also for Government to put the prejudice against universities behind them.

Encouraging young people who can go into Higher Education to do so ensures that they don’t then displace the youngsters for whom further education and vocational opportunities are absolutely vital.

In simple terms, if the already reasonably well educated take the jobs and opportunities of those with only the first foothold on the ladder of learning, then the most vulnerable, the least educated and the most likely to be unemployed, will find themselves at the end of the queue.

If our economy is to prosper again, it has to do so at every possible level of employment. From well-trained and respected jobs in social care, to construction and tackling climate change, through to the digital economy and innovations in artificial intelligence. ‘Think global, act local’ has to be the mantra for the years ahead.

David Blunkett is a Labour peer and a former Home Secretary.

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