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Folkestone and Hythe prospective parliamentary candidate Damian Collins believes it is scandalous that local young people are being let down by a system that is failing to equip and train them for work.

He writes: “People are talking more and more about the benefits that could come to the area from the new fast rail link to London, and the plans for the major regeneration of Folkestone harbour and town centre. But, moving forward, we need to make sure that local people are given every opportunity to benefit from this change.

“During my recent visit to the Harvey Grammar School in Folkestone, I was asked by a number of the students about my priorities for this constituency. I want to make sure that people of all ages are given the opportunity to find rewarding work in the area and develop the skills they need to succeed and enjoy life. That sadly has become more of a challenge than you would think.

“I would like to share with you a fact about life in Folkestone and Hythe over the last 10 years, made available to me through the independent Office of National Statistics that I find very disturbing.

“Over the last 10 years, the number of people of working age who are not working, but instead living on benefits has increased by a staggering 74%.

“That means that there are now over 12,000 people of working age in Folkestone and Hythe not working: over one in five of the working age population.

"This is also a problem across the whole country. The number of working age people who are not working is at the highest level now since records began in 1971.

“Despite years of continuous growth in our economy, there are more people in our community who are not working. And worse than that, hundreds of thousands of people from eastern Europe have come to Britain and found work. This implies that there are jobs available, but that local people are not taking advantage of them.

“Kent County Council has also analysed the social problems faced in certain local government wards in Kent, including four wards in Folkestone. The latest information, for Folkestone Harvey Central ward, which covers the town centre and the offices of this newspaper, shows that it has the highest official rate of unemployment in Kent at nearly 12%. Nearly 40% of people of working age are claiming benefits and over one in four 16 to 18 year olds are not in education, employment or training.

“In South East England, one third of young people on Gordon Brown’s New Deal scheme, which was designed to get people off of welfare and into work, have been on it before. This means it has previously failed them. Across the country, nearly £2 billion has been spent on ‘New Deal’: enough to build 50 new specialist academy schools. But there are more young people out of work now, than when it was introduced in 1998.

“It is a scandal that this has been allowed to happen.

“Young people have been let down by a system that is failing to equip and train them for work.

“Working age people looking for work are being let down by a system that is all too easily trapping them into a cycle of welfare dependency.

“Working people are being let down, by being asked to pay the growing tax bill to cover the spiralling welfare expenses that this failure has created.

“This is a problem that Gordon Brown has created, but what is the answer?

“I believe we need more vocational training and apprenticeships for young people, tailored to their needs, instead of a general government scheme.

“I believe it means that people looking for work should be helped and supported to find it as quickly as possible, and that the system should offer more compulsion for people to do this.

“I also believe that we should do all we can to attract employers and skilled job opportunities to the area.

“Conservative run Kent County Council has invested in local solutions to some of these problems, and is making a real difference. But there is a big job to do and local authorities need more assistance from the Government. Kent’s ‘Supporting Independence Programme’, targeted at some of the worst hit areas of the county, including four wards in Folkestone, was launched in 2002. In areas covered by the scheme, research has shown that people are 30% more likely to get off of dependency on welfare benefits, compared to the rest of South East England. The programme includes schemes to help people find job vacancies and to help them apply and interview for those jobs. There is also the ‘Kent Community Programme’ which is building teams of apprentices to develop skills and participate in community projects.

“The Conservative Party has recently published a detailed report, called ‘Breakthrough Britain’ which looks at the growing problem of people out of work and dependent on benefits, as well as other social problems in Britain. You can view this report on a special website www.conservatives.com/standupspeakup where you can also write your own comments and opinions. I would also be very interested in hearing from you and you can e-mail me at damian@damiancollins.com, or write to me at 4 West Cliff Gardens, Folkestone. CT20 1SP.”