This snapshot taken on 12/05/2010, shows web content selected for preservation by The National Archives. External links, forms and search boxes may not work in archived websites.

Plans for more than 5,000 new jobs in culture, music and creative industries unveiled by Andy Burnham and James Purnell

Government plans to create between five and ten thousand new jobs for young people in the culture and creative industries sectors were set out today by Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell and Culture Secretary Andy Burnham.

Local councils, third sector groups, arts organisations and creative industry bodies will be able to bid for Government funding for new, innovative jobs.

The new jobs are being created as part of the £1.1bn Future Jobs Fund announced in the Budget last month.  Plans for the culture and creative sectors will include working with orchestras, arts organisations, heritage bodies and the music industry.  The Culture Department is already working with key stakeholders in the cultural sector to put together partnerships that include music and arts leaders; the Heritage Lottery Fund; Arts Council England; the National Museums Directors Conference; the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and many others.

Already UK Music has been working with Government to explore how creative industries can help get young people into work. Following negotiations with the live music industry, UK Music has developed a programme, working with Jobcentre Plus, to offer 200 jobs to young unemployed people around this summer's music festivals.

The Future Jobs Fund is the next step of this support and will help to deliver the opportunity of work or training for every 18 to 24 year old job seeker who has been out of work for up to a year. The music industry proposals would ensure that all young people involved would receive relevant skills-based training from some of the UK's largest promoters of live music.

top
 
Speaking at the launch of Lifting People, Lifting Places, the Government’s vision for how culture, media and sport can play a part in helping the economy recover, Andy Burnham said:

“It’s a fact that the UK punches well above its weight in the cultural and creative industries.  International recognition and awards for British talent and content show what we’re really good at.   But getting in to these sectors can be hard, especially for young people and those coming from disadvantaged groups and deprived communities.  The Budget announcement of a £1 billion jobs fund provides a real chance to help put this right.

“It’s great that music festival organisers are keen to bid for investment as early as this summer,   and we are in active discussions across the cultural and creative industries. I know that many others in our sectors will be keen to join in too.

Today's announcement of more than 5,000 jobs in the culture and creative industries builds on the enthusiastic response we have already seen from sports organisations of 5,000 jobs for a new young generation of coaches. This investment is a golden opportunity to create real jobs for Britain’s young talent of the future.”
At the same event, James Purnell added:

“It’s fantastic that the whole arts world is getting behind the Future Jobs Fund – together we can make a real difference.

“We want this fund to create real jobs in interesting and socially worthwhile industries so people can get the skills and qualifications they need for jobs for the future. Jobs for young people in the culture and creative industries will do just that.

“In past recessions, young people were written off – working together we can make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

top

Notes to Editors

  1. The £1bn Future Jobs Fund will provide funding for 150,000 jobs that will come on line from the autumn, and will be paid at least at National Minimum Wage. These will be targeted primarily at 18-24 year olds, but some will also be available for other disadvantaged groups and unemployment hotspots.
  2. In addition, 100,000 jobs will be set aside in growing sectors, again primarily for long term unemployed young people. The jobs will include 50,000 jobs with pre-employment training and £2000 recruitment subsidy that will be dedicated to certain sectors, such as creative industries. This will be a flexible fund so we can help stimulate demand for jobs and give young people a start in careers that will expand in the future.
  3. The guarantee, which will be fully in place by early 2010, will include training places lasting up to six months plus community work placements for those who don’t take up the other options, so no one is left to languish on benefits without real help to improve their skills and employment prospects.
  4. Today’s announcement builds on the announcement on 28 April that national sports organisations have already pledged to bid for at least 5,000 jobs for young people, including sports coaches, swimming and fitness instructors, and other active leisure posts.
  5. Organisations can visit www.dwp.gov.uk/campaigns/futurejobsfund to express interest in bidding for jobs.
  6. Proposals for cultural activity are also being developed in partnership with the New Deal of the Mind, a coalition of entrepreneurs, teachers and individuals working in the creative industries who believe we must act immediately and imaginatively to innovate our way out of the current economic crisis.  New Deal of the Mind began life as an article in the New Statesman by Martin Bright in January 2009, which argued that Britain should learn the lessons of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1930s New Deal and apply them, where appropriate, to the recession we face in Britain today. More information can be found at http://www.newdealofthemind.com/

 

Press Enquiries: 020 7211 6052/6277
Out of hours telephone pager no: 07699 751153
Public Enquiries: 020 7211 6200

Back to main

Next >
< Prev

Back to top