Military personnel to give advice at Jobcentres skills minister announces at Cosford visit
Skills minister and former Midlands MP, Baroness Jacqui Smith, has announced a new deal with the Jobcentre and the MOD while on a visit to RAF Cosford in Shropshire
Baroness Smith and the minister for veterans and people, Louise Sandher-Jones, visited RAF Cosford on Wednesday.
In their joint announcement, the pair said military personnel will give advice in jobcentres to people looking for a career in the armed forces, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has announced under new plans to boost recruitment.
The agreement between the MoD and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will connect Jobcentre Plus directly to military training and careers.
The MoD said the move would create “opportunities for tens of thousands of young people”, with armed forces career offices partnered with jobcentres.
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For the first time “military career opportunities will be actively promoted to jobseekers through the Jobcentre Plus network”, the MoD said, with staff providing guidance on roles spanning from engineering and cyber to healthcare and logistics.
The partnership is open to all jobseekers, with targeted support for care leavers and underrepresented groups through the DWP’s youth hubs.
Ms Sandher-Jones said the plans would give people an “insight into military careers and what they could gain from them”.
She said: “We know that we’ve had recruitment issues into the armed forces, and I’d say that’s for a variety of factors.
“One thing that is clear, though, is we do have a lot of people expressing interest in joining the armed forces. We know that there are thousands and thousands who are applying every year, which is really great to see.
“The challenge is on us to make sure that we can get them through the pipeline, pass the test that they need to pass, and then get them up and started in our armed forces.”
The armed forces is the largest apprenticeship provider in the country and jobseekers will also learn about alternative entry routes available.
These include more than 100 apprenticeship programmes ranging from GCSE to Masters level, with training in sectors with transferable skills, from aviation engineering to medical services.
Baroness Smith, a former Labour MP for Redditch who now sits in the Lords, said there had been a “fall off in the numbers of young people able to start apprenticeships”.
She added: “Working through our jobcentres, through our work coaches, we can ensure that people know all the opportunities that there are to work in the forces to gain skills, to get apprenticeships.
“That’s good for our national security and for our armed forces, and it’s also good for making sure that there are opportunities, particularly for young people, to be able to take part in those skills.”
A new pilot in the West Midlands will also trial specialist armed forces recruitment support as part of the Government’s youth guarantee.
The area has the highest youth unemployment in the country, where 9.6% of 18–24-year-olds claim unemployment-related benefits.
Under the plans, the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force will nominate a dedicated representative to deliver tailored engagement activities for jobseekers and DWP work coaches to highlight the range of opportunities available in the armed forces.
The MoD said work coaches “will receive improved training, including visits to Army and RAF sites to broaden their knowledge of the breadth of roles available in the military”.
