The Chancellor has announced plans to create or support 250,000 jobs as part of a package of measures to stem the rise in unemployment and help jobseekers, particularly the young, find work.
After new figures revealed unemployment jumped by 177,000 to 2.1m in the three months to February, Alistair Darling insisted the Government was determined not to return to the days when a generation of young people found themselves "on the scrapheap".
The Jobcentre Plus network will receive an additional £1.7 billion, on top of £1.3 billion previously announced so that "everyone" can receive high-quality support.
Most people, even now, continued to find work within a matter of weeks, said the Chancellor, unveiling additional support for people who have been out of work for 12 months.
From January, everyone under the age of 25, who has been out of work for 12 months, will be offered a job or a place in training, and those in work will receive a wage.
Those in training will receive additional money on top of their benefits, MPs were told.
"To provide these extra opportunities, we are working with employers to create or support as many as 250,000 jobs. This will include delivering local services, traineeships in social care, and other high demand sectors - as well as jobs for people of all ages in particularly badly hit communities."
