The paper 'Supporting People – Working through the downturn' is Avanta’s contribution to the debate on how to tackle the issues of unemployment, caused by the recession, that was produced and submitted to officials at DWP at the very beginning of December 2008.

We are pleased that since then Government has taken forward a number of the suggestions we made.

In relation to existing employment programmes they have already announced:

• Day one eligibility for Programme Centres.
• The re-introduction of 13 week tracking for job outcomes on New Deal and Programme Centre provision.
• The creation of Enhanced Programme Centre type activity via their existing ESF initiatives.

In addition to the points above, we are pleased that Government has also announced:

• The creation of intern programmes for graduates.
• Investment in green projects including house installation initiatives.
• Investment in next generation broadband infrastructure.
• Other capital investment programmes/public works.

All of these were suggested by us in ‘Supporting People’ and we look forward to seeing more and more detail on these initiatives over the coming weeks and months.

We recognise however that there is much more to do. In the paper, we have made a number of other suggestions that could be implemented by Government to ensure we effectively tackle the issues of the downturn.

Having shared our thoughts with DWP, we now feel it is time to help stimulate a far wider debate on what needs to be done. We hope that you too will enter the debate and share your ideas on how to help people and communities in these difficult times.

We do not suggest that we have got all the answers, however, we know that the more ideas that are on the table the better.

If you have any ideas or feedback that you wish to share with us, please send your thoughts to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Alex Pollock

Director of Business Development

28th January 2009

	Supporting People - Working through the downturn
	Since the inception of TNG in 1983 we have worked through the economic declines of the 1980’s and early 1990’s and know the devastating effect this can have on local people and communities.
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