Local MP Steve Brine MP saw first-hand how the government's drive to find jobs for young unemployed people in Winchester is paying off.
The Conservative MP for Winchester & Chandler's Ford was visiting the offices of public service provider A4e, which delivers the Work Programme for the Department of Work and Pensions, when he met employer Stephen Potter.
Stephen, General Manager of Winchester-based The Landscape Group, was able to tell the minister how his company worked closely with A4e and had recruited ten customers from the Work Programme.
"Our company has a new contract with Winchester City Council and East Hants District Council to carry out grounds maintainance and street care and so we have a high seasonal demand for staff. A4e was able to arrange for us to interview a number of their customers on one day and we chose three guys who impressed us and who genuinely wanted to get into work. Since then, whenever we have needed to recruit more staff, our first point of contact is A4e. We know we are always going to get a positive outcome."
Mr Potter added: "The MP seemed really interested and particularly in how the government schemes to help young people into work are going."
Mr Brine also chatted to A4e staff during the visit to the A4e offices in Southgate Street, Winchester and was keen to hear about support being offered for prison leavers and homeless customers.
The visit came as the Work Programme, which provides tailored support for unemployed customers who need more help to undertake active and effective job-seeking, moved into its second year of operation.
After the visit, Mr Brine said: "The whole drive of this Government to get this country off its knees and to create new jobs in the private sector but we need a robust programme to get those stuck on out of work benefits into meaningful, long-term jobs and that is what the Work Programme is all about. It was good to meet the team, especially good to meet the Landscape Group team and hear how the programme is working with their business.
"I think there's a long way to go with the programme but the fact it has payment by results at its heart is something I warmly welcome."
Over the last year, A4e has been working hard to establish an excellent team of professional staff with a range of specialist skills to support individuals across the UK. The flexibility given to providers of the Work Programme has meant that A4e has been able to create a number of innovative programmes and specialist training to support local customers.
Neil Copping, Local Business Leader at A4e Winchester said: "We are really proud of the work we are doing in Winchester, of our team and of the people we are helping, and we were pleased to be able to demonstrate this to our MP. It was a very positive visit and a great chance for some of the job-seekers we support to speak directly to their local representative about their experiences."
A4e is delivering the Work Programme on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Job Centre Plus.
Pictured; Steve visited the A4e team at the end of September