Conservative Employment policy

Conservative Party Conference, Manchester. Monday 5th- Thurs 8th October

The Conservative party conference has only been in full swing for less than a day, but already they have had a lot to say about the current job market. In their section today entitled 'Get Britain Working' they discussed the following:

'local unemployment sows the seeds for many social problems'

Sayeeda Warsi (Shadow Minister for Community Cohesion and Social Action.)

Job Clubs. 50 parts of the UK have already set up 'job clubs' inspired by the Conservative party. These are purely driven by local people to respond to daily local needs, to tackle community unemployment and to help people get back into work. This involves mentoring, improving job finding skills, CV surgeries, and giving those people who find themselves out of work someone to talk to. These are community based projects that are happening now to tackle unemployment.

A new Conservative government would establish a network of 'work clubs' based on the job clubs that are already formed. They will be places to meet others and exchange skills, help with voluntary work and to be used to access mutual support. They would be created as a franchise model so that they can be easily set up by local communities. The Conservatives know that 'local people really want to be part of the solution'.

Tories would like to implement a new nationwide volunteering project, to support communities affected by the economic downturn. 'Work Together' would allow you to see the ways in which you can help and volunteer in your local area. This not only helps support local communities, but also offers the unemployed a chance to gain new skills whilst they are looking for work. The Conservatives have set up a website to support their project: http://www.conservatives.com/getbritainworking/ to support people looking for work, which lists over 1 million positions for voluntary work in the UK.

George Osborne- Shadow Chancellor

National Insurance contributions will be abolished for the first ten employees employed in the first year of any new business founded under a new Conservative government. This funded tax cut has been proposed in a bid to create more job opportunities in small businesses and to boost enterprise.

The tax break will enable the Tories to create 60,000 new jobs over two years.

The Tories are the party of jobs while Labour is the party of mass unemployment.

Ken Clarke- Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills

'Small companies could employ a lot more people if we create the right climate for them'

The Conservatives want to encourage people with a desire to work for themselves- people should be supported, and moving people from unemployment to self employment should be a priority, which they believe doesn't exist in the Labour party.

David Cameron- Leader of the Opposition

'We will not let Britain down'

People on incapacity benefit need to be assessed and those who can work need to be encouraged to get back into work with the right help and training. 'If you can work, you should work... we will help you to work.'

Focusing on a bold shake-up of the Welfare system.

Cameron wants to replace the current Flexible New Deal and implement more personalised help and training, which will extend to people who have been unemployed for over 6 months.

Today is the opening day of the Conservative conference in Manchester. A key theme was how to help the unemployed during the recession and help people get back into work.