Future Jobs Fund will close down

Today’s Government announcement on reducing the deficit means that no further bids to the Future Jobs Fund (FJF) will be approved. This includes bids that are currently waiting for approval.  The decision will save DWP £290m and is part of the Department's £575m contribution to the Government's £6bn savings plan. A further £30 million will be saved by cutting the £1,000 subsidy to employers under the last Government's "Six-Month Offer".

A statement sent today by Martin Betts on behalf of DWP says that today’s announcement does not affect grant letters already in operation or which have already been sent – these will continue as normal until March 2011. For the organisations concerned it remains “business as usual”. 

Betts says "Ministers have agreed that we can now issue those grant letters that we were not able to issue during the pre-election period, subject to the usual legal, financial and profile clearances.  Where organisations are affected by this decision we will be writing to them separately to confirm next steps and to issue documentation as quickly as possible.

"Clearly, given the economic climate, we will all need to continue to focus on delivering high performance and value for money through the FJF.  To this end there may be some changes to the way we manage grants – which will be communicated in the next couple of weeks.

"Ministers appreciate the efforts of all FJF providers in helping workless people into jobs. Colleagues here are now working to develop the new single ‘Work Programme’ which will offer support for young people from the 6 month point of their claim. This will provide new opportunities for national and local partners to contribute to the Government’s ambitious programme to tackle unemployment."

The Department has subsequently updated its Future Jobs Fund webpage to add that "some scope may remain for unsuccessful bidders to help create jobs through already successful Future Jobs Fund partnerships in their area. Organisations who are in a position to do this should contact the successful bidders to see how they might be able to become involved.