Government announces Pathways to Work contracts
13th September 2007
Private and voluntary sector companies have been awarded the contracts to deliver the next stage of the government's ‘Pathways to Work' programme.
The announcement came as work and pensions secretary Peter Hain stressed the private and voluntary sectors would have an ‘enhanced role' in the government's plans for full employment.
The contracts went to the charity Shaw Trust and five private providers: WorkDirections, A4E, Seetec, TNG and Triage Central.
Speaking at the IPPR conference, Peter Hain said: "The private and voluntary sector must and in my plans will, have an enhanced role to give individualised attention and support and to lever in new finance.
"The old sterile battle for territory between public and private sectors is redundant. I am interested in one thing and one thing only: what works."
The Pathways to Work contracts will help prepare people for work through the new initiative of Local Employment Partnerships (LEPs) where leading employers will work with government to provide opportunities specifically for those individuals who have had difficulties in getting into work.
The government says that with 64 employers committed to this partnership and a further 150 in discussion, LEPs will create 250,000 job opportunities for people in the UK.
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Notes to editors
Media enquiries, please contact:
Liz Nightingale, Communications Manager
Employers' Forum on Disability
Email: liz.nightingale@efd.org.uk
Telephone: 020 7403 3020
About Employers' Forum on Disability
Employers' Forum on Disability is the employers' organisation focused on disability as it affects employers and service providers. With over 400 members, EFD represents organisations that employ around 20 per cent of the UK workforce.Since its establishment in 1991, EFD has worked closely with government and other stakeholders, sharing best practice to make it easier to employ disabled people and serve disabled customers.