The Government has launched a 'Way to Work’ initiative, which is a national effort to help half a million jobseekers find work in the next five months. This scheme builds on the Government’s £400 billion Plan for Jobs, which has been successful in supporting jobs and livelihoods during the pandemic.
As the economy continues to rebound and grow, there are still around 1.2 million vacancies currently available and many of those vacancies are in sectors which are vital for our recovery. Simultaneously, we have a number of people on Universal Credit who are looking to get into the workplace. As such, the Way to Work scheme will help connect those jobseekers with the vacancies.
During my time as a Minister at the DWP, I worked a lot on ensuring that work coaches offered more time to individual claimants – helping to tailor the support they needed as well as ensure they got access to the help they were entitled to. This scheme will also work closely with employers to support their recruitment efforts, including simplifying and shortening the recruitment process, and helping them match with claimants who can swiftly move into available positions. Moreover, this initiative will focus on those sectors, and parts of the country, where vacancies are especially high and in need of filling quickly.
Elsewhere I was pleased to see a new package of support available for victims of domestic abuse, which sees an additional £125 million to local authorities to help them deliver their Domestic Abuse Act. This funding builds on the Government’s continued commitment to tackle domestic abuse and support victims and follows our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021 - bringing the total allocated to safe accommodation since 2014 to £330 million.
Swindon’s allocation of funding to support victims will be over £430,000 in 2022/23. This funding will ensure that safe accommodation spaces, such as refuges and shelters, are provided to victims, along with other support services like healthcare, so that anyone who has to flee their home will get the help they need.
In addition work is also under way on two consultations that will look at how we can enhance support for victims of domestic abuse in social housing, with the aim of giving victims of domestic abuse more choice and greater flexibility on where they live.
Finally, a topic that may be on some residents’ minds at the moment is the rise in tensions in Ukraine. Russia has amassed over 100,000 troops on the border of Ukraine - a military force that has not been seen since the Cold War.
Although Russia denies planning to invade Ukraine, and claims to be withdrawing troops from the border, there are fears that this is not reflected in their actions on the ground. As such, the UK government has lead the way along with allies, to continue to pursue diplomacy and calls for Russia to step back from the brink.
Russia’s actions threaten stability in Eastern Europe, and we must do all we can to hold Russia to account for this unprovoked and unjustified activity. The UK has longstanding ties with Ukraine, a fellow democratic nation, and we must ensure that her sovereignty and territorial integrity are upheld.
