Under new plans recently outlined by the Government, job centres are set to become a “universal employment service” open to those already in work as well as the unemployed.

The plans will modernise the current Jobcentre Plus network, and will include the provision of laptops and personal websites for jobseekers.

Employment minister Jim Knight stated that he wants job centres to “run alongside people at every stage of their lives”, and be available to individuals facing redundancy or contemplating a change of career rather than being limited only to people on out-of-work benefits.

Over the next five years, the jobcentre system will increase the online services it offers, and it is planned that job centre advisers will provide more training and advice rather than simply processing the growing number of benefit claims.

“We’ve got a service that that works pretty well for the people it was designed to help,” explained Mr Knight, “but with an almost doubling in the number of people coming through the door, we’ve got a much bigger range of people coming in, with different sorts of skills.”

According to the latest employment figures, 2.46 million people are currently unemployed in the UK - a jobless rate of 7.6%.

The new plans were welcomed by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), as they also include the provision of dedicated small business managers in a selection of job centres.

The national chairman of the FSB John Wright commented: “Research by the FSB shows that 34% [of small businesses] have in the past found Job Centre Plus either ‘ineffective’ or ‘very ineffective’. When these proposals are put in place small firms will now be in a better position to use their job centre to recruit and help put a stop to rising unemployment.”

The proposals will be officially declared in a white paper from the Department for Work and Pensions next month.

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