Universal Credit: welfare that works, Department for Work and Pensions
November 2010
This White Paper sets out the coalition government’s plans for fundamental welfare reform via a new single, integrated working-age benefit, the Universal Credit. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will have sole responsibility for the management of the Universal Credit system and £2 billion has been set aside to fund its implementation.
The Universal Credit will:
- Provide a single, integrated working-age credit with additional elements for children, disability, housing and caring.
- Ensure that nobody is worse-off at the point of transition onto the new benefit.
- Improve incentives to work by reducing benefit payments at a consistent and managed rate as people return to work and increase their working hours and earnings.
- Be paid to people who are unemployed and people who are in employment, in order to avoid the risks involved in trasferring from one system of financial support to another.
- Be supported by a strong system of conditionality.
Skills for Sustainable Growth, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
November 2010
This White Paper sets out plans for a shift in the Further Education system towards a more shared responsibility for skills. The Paper also states that those who benefit from the system, including employers and learners, will from now on be expected to contribute towards costs.
Key announcements include:
- An expansion of the numbers of adult apprenticeships available 200,000.
- The apprenticeships package will be improved, with Level 3 established as the desired qualification.
- Funded training for young adults aged 19 - 24 undertaking their first full Level 2 or Level 3 qualification.
- Basic skills courses for individuals who left school without basic reading, writing and mathematics will be fully funded, and there are plans to invest £210 million in adult and community learning.
- Full funding for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) will only be available for those actively seeking work on Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment Support Allowance (work-related activity group) benefits. For others, ESOL will be co-funded.
- From 2013-14, government-backed loans for learners aged 24 and over undertaking level 3 or higher qualifications will be introduced.
- A demand-led Growth and Innovation Fund will be implemented, with government investment of up to £50 million of government a year.
Local Growth: realising every place’s potential, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
November 2010
This White Paper sets out the government’s plans to encourage locally driven growth and business investment, as well as promoting economic development. Part of this commitment means ensuring that everyone has access to the opportunities that growth brings.
Key announcements include:
- Twenty-four local enterprise partnership proposals have been accepted, in a move that will see local business and civic leaders working together to drive sustainable economic growth and create new jobs in their communities.
- The £1.4bn Regional Growth Fund is now accessible to support the creation of private sector jobs.