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A new campaign - 'Backing Young Britain' – uniting business and government to create thousands of opportunities for young people is launched by Yvette Cooper, Lord Mandelson, Ed Balls and John Denham today.

Launching the campaign Ministers announced £40 million to fund over 20,000 additional internships so that graduates and non graduates can get higher quality work experience, as well as a new mentoring network to help young people find their feet in a tough jobs market. Young people will also get more help from day one of unemployment through job clubs and 1-2-1 support in job centres for those leaving education this summer.

Ministers also announced the first 47,000 youth jobs supported by the Future Jobs Fund for young people who are unable to find work or training within a year.

Ministers called on businesses and other organisations to make a commitment to support young people in at least one of the following ways:

• work with a partnership to bid for one of the 100,000 jobs for young people from the Future Jobs Fund;
• offer a volunteering place or a volunteer mentor for school or university leavers;
• provide work experience places to help young people learn about work, make contacts and fill their CV;
• consider a young person for a job through a work trial;
• offer an internship for a graduate;
• provide an apprenticeship for 16-24 year olds;
• join a Local Employment Partnership to make sure job vacancies are advertised to local unemployed people.

Kicking the campaign off today at an event with businesses and young people in London, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Yvette Cooper announced that 117 bidders have been given the green light to create up to 47,000 innovative jobs for young people and the long term unemployed through the Government’s Future Jobs Fund. Jobs will include sports coaches, education assistants, and roles in the green and social care sectors.

Launching the campaign at the Hoxton Apprentice in London, Yvette Cooper said:

"We are determined not to lose a generation of talent as has happened in the past because of the global recession. This is why we are announcing 47,000 new jobs for young people today. And - with business and charities - we are launching a national call to action to our fellow employers to join us in Backing Young Britain - to give every young person a job, training place, skills or work experience."

The campaign kicks off as the Government launches its Graduate Talent Pool website which goes live today with more than 2,000 internships available to graduates from employers and businesses. These are the first of more than 6,000 graduate internships already pledged by employers to come on stream in weeks to come. In addition the Government is announcing support today for a further 10,000 graduate internships – including thousands of graduate internships with small businesses. Support is also being provided for over 10,000 internships and work placements for non graduates.

The £40 million additional funding for internships is part of the £5 billion allocated at the Budget and pre Budget report to support the unemployed. As unemployment is currently lower than the independent forecasts at the time of the Budget, the Government has been able to allocate this additional investment to help young people.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said:

"Our national campaign to help every young person to find a job, training or work skills and experience is not just a response to the recession but an investment in our future as we build a stronger Britain."

Ministers are today out and about around the country visiting successful organisations to see first hand the kind of jobs that will be created by the Future Jobs Fund.

Children, Schools and Families Secretary Ed Balls said:

"We must not repeat the mistakes of the past and abandon a generation of young people.

"The Government already has programmes up and running to help school leavers, graduates and young unemployed people and we’d like businesses and charities to join in by offering as volunteering places, work experience and apprenticeships.

"For our part, the September Guarantee for school leavers will guarantee all 16 and 17 year olds a place in learning, whether that’s at school, college, in training or an apprenticeship. We’re expanding apprenticeships and training places, as well as places in sixth forms and colleges for a range of courses like Diplomas and A levels, with an overall investment of £6.9billion, in the education and training of 16-18 year olds across the country.

"The extra £655m of investment announced in the Budget means we can meet our guarantee for school leavers and more than 1.5 million young people – the highest number ever – will be able to stay on in education or training this year."

Communities Secretary John Denham said:

"In the downturn it is essential that the Government’s real help with jobs and social housing reaches into the heart of the hardest hit communities, to assure people that the Government understands their needs and is responding to them.

"The future jobs fund gives local and national Government and their partners a huge opportunity to discuss with local people in hard hit areas how new jobs can tackle local needs and provide new opportunities for young people."

For more information on Backing Young Britain please visit www.hmg.gov.uk/backingyoungbritain.

Note to Editors

1. The Future Jobs Fund will provide funding for 150,000 jobs – 100,000 for young people and 50,000 for unemployment hotspots. Around £1 billion has been allocated to the Future Jobs Fund.
2. These are the first successful bids to the Future Jobs Fund; bids can be submitted at any time.
3. A full list of the successful bids can be found on the DWP website.
4. Organisations can visit www.dwp.gov.uk/campaigns/futurejobsfund to express interest in bidding for jobs.
5. The Young Persons Guarantee, which will be in place next year, will provide young people with a job, training or community work. This will give them the skills, experience and confidence that they need and will ensure that no one is left to languish on benefits without real help to improve their skills. The guarantee will be mandatory for young people to make sure they benefit from the opportunities available.
6. On 27 July 2009 Schools Secretary Ed Balls and Apprenticeships Minister Iain Wright set out how investment of over £6.9billion in the education and training of 16-18 year olds will be distributed across the country. This investment supports the government’s ‘September Guarantee’ of a place in education or training for every young person who wants one. For more details see http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2009_0141
7. Graduates can log on to the Graduate Talent Pool website at www.direct.gov.uk/graduates to get matched with an internship offered by large and small businesses up and down the country.  The Talent Pool sits alongside the thousands of other opportunities available to new graduates that will help them improve their chances to get a long term and well paid career. These include around 14,000 additional postgraduate places - supported by extra Professional and Career Development Loans next year, 250 short term placements through Mini Knowledge Transfer partnerships, rising to 500 in 2010/11, thousands of existing volunteering options available through "V", and 500 teach first opportunities in 2009, up 130 from 2008.

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