23 August 2006 - Minister cooks up praise for Jobcentre Plus staff
Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform Jim Murphy MP dished out praise to staff from Truro Jobcentre Plus for the help they gave Cornish young people to find placements at Fifteen Cornwall, the Jamie Oliver inspired restaurant.
As a mark of gratitude for the hard work the team put in, the Minister served them up some of the tasty menu on offer at the innovative restaurant in Watergate Bay. He also met the students training at the restaurant as part of a guided tour of the kitchens.
Jobcentre Plus in Cornwall was instrumental in recruiting the students and invested significant funding through its Cornwall Action Team for Jobs and Objective One co-financing programme.
Jim Murphy MP said:
“It’s great to see the pride and confidence initiatives such as Fifteen gives to young people. It gives them a sense of hope and direction to find their way in the world of work.
“The hard work put in by the Jobcentre Plus team at Truro to help these people get involved was tremendous - they are a great asset.
“This government’s policy on reforming the labour market is to provide the skills and opportunity for people who have traditionally been left behind, particularly people from deprived areas such as the young people here today.”
The initiative at the Watergate Bay restaurant aims to help disadvantaged young people make a start in life.
The first year's intake of 21 students all hail from the most deprived wards of Cornwall. They started with a 12-week intensive training course at Cornwall College to obtain an NVQ1 in Catering Studies then worked in restaurant placements. The students will complete 12 months at Fifteen Cornwall including college study to gain their NVQ2s.
European Programmes and Funding Manager Carolyn Webster said: "Fifteen Cornwall offers a new approach to inspire young people to gain new skills and connect with the labour market. The student-centred approach, top quality training and the investment of time to support the wider needs of participants is a powerful combination that can transform lives."
Chair of the trustees of the Cornwall Foundation of Promise Henry Ashworth added: "We certainly wouldn't be here today without the support and leadership of Jobcentre Plus. It's been a fantastic initiative by them, especially in mobilising other agencies to get involved in the recruitment process."
Note for editors
The Cornwall Foundation of Promise owns the restaurant and all profits are re-invested to provide more opportunities for young people in Cornwall. Since the concept of Fifteen Cornwall became a reality, Jobcentre Plus has supported the restaurant and its chefs through:
- providing two people to co-ordinate an support the recruitment process, including liaising with key partners such as the Probation Service, youth offending team and leaving care team;
- £115,000 of Action Team for Jobs funding to develop the programme
- £218,000 of European Social Fund Objective One money to support ongoing delivery;
- continued people support to the Cornwall Foundation of Promise to support the student's welfare officer to make links with appropriate organisations and agencies; and working with the Foundation to develop ways to support young people who did not get through the recruitment process.
Jobcentre Plus, part of the Department for Work and Pensions, brings together employment and benefit services for people of working age and is a key element in the Government's objectives to help people based on ‘Work for those who can, support for those who cannot’. It provides a professional and modern service to meet the diverse needs of employers and those seeking work, including:
Since Jobcentre Plus was launched in 2002 it has helped over 3.7 million people in to work or around 3391 every day. The national roll out of the new Jobcentre Plus services is on course to be complete by the summer of 2006.
Touch-screen terminals and Customer Access Phones are available in libraries and local authority premises. Jobcentre Plus works with over 400,000 employers to place 20,000 people into work every week. Over 300,000 vacancies are listed each week on its website and more than 3m job search requests are received, making it the number one UK recruitment website.
For further information on the services that Jobcentre Plus provides employers and people of working age visit www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk.
This press release was issued by the Department for Work and Pensions Press Office, South West.
Press office: Ruth Sharville on 0117 945 6685, or Mary Dowling
on 07831 138982
Out of hours: 07659 108 883
Textphone: 020 7238 0788
Public enquiries: 020 7712 2171
Website: www.dwp.gov.uk
Prepared by: Department for Work and Pensions Pensions Analysis Directorate