The government recently brought out a consultation paper called 'In Work Better Off'. The paper sets out that the Government’s aim is to reduce the number of people on Incapacity Benefit by 1million, enable 300,000 more lone parents to get work and increase the employment rate of older people by 1 million. The consultation focuses on employment support.
From Social Firms UK’s point of view, these proposals are limited in that they focus primarily on supporting people to find jobs in the open labour market, through advice, skills training and the use of incentives. However, Social Firms UK sent a response to the DWP in October 2007 that highlights what Social Firms are all about and offers ideas on changes that could be made and how Social Firms UK could play a positive role in this.
