HMT 8 : Employment opportunity for all - a new approach

A five-point plan to meet the challenges of a changing labour market has been set out in a paper published today by Chancellor Gordon Brown and Secretary of State for Education and Employment David Blunkett.

The paper sets out the agenda for a new approach - Employment Opportunity For All - for investing in skills, moving people from welfare to work and making work pay. It provides a background to the Government's reform of the tax and benefit system, analysing the problems and challenges facing Britain today.

The Chancellor said:

"We need a new approach - Employment Opportunity For All - to face the challenges of today's dynamic labour market, creating a modern definition of full employment for the 21st century.

"The paper we are publishing today sets out this agenda. It highlights five vital elements needed if Britain is to meet today's challenges:

a framework for macroeconomic stability;
a flexible and adaptable labour market, underpinned by minimum standards; * skilled and adaptable people;
policies which encourage people to move from welfare to work;
a tax and benefit system that makes work pay.

"A different and radical way of thinking deserves open discussion - that is why I am opening the debate up to everyone who has a view as part of my Pre- Budget Report debate."

Mr Blunkett said:

"The old approach focused solely on creating the right economic conditions for businesses to invest and create new jobs. Our new approach recognises that we must also focus on the skills and education needs of each individual so that people can improve their employability and take advantage of the job opportunities that will be available as we enter the new century."

The paper - "Employment Opportunity for All" - is the first of a series entitled "The Modernisation of Britain's Tax and Benefit System". The Government intends to publish other documents, marking the staging posts on the road to reform. The paper:

shows the changing experience of individuals and families in the labour market as we enter the 21st century - in particular it looks at those excluded from work, or in low paid jobs, or subject to a cycle of both low pay and unemployment;
identifies how changes in the broader economy and society have affected the labour market - from trends in technology and trade; from changes in society; and from the organisation of work;
reaffirms the commitment to high and stable levels of employment - making the case for a new approach to tax, benefit and employment policy that reflects the realities of the new labour market, and the problems it faces;
looks critically at where we stand on the key criteria for a successful labour market - macroeconomic stability, flexibility, employability and skills, and at whether work pays;
sets out the policy initiatives that will support this agenda; including reform of the tax and benefit system.

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Pre Budget 1997 Press Notices index page

HMT 8 : Employment opportunity for all - a new approach

HM Treasury press office

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