Minister in Newham to
unveil real help for Londoners
Minister for London Tony McNulty
visited Stratford today (April 1) to launch information designed to
help Londoners through the economic downturn and hear about Newham
Council's measures to assist residents and businesses through the
tougher times.
Together with the Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales, Mr
McNulty visited Workplace, which advises residents on employment
options and helps employers recruit staff.
The Minister spoke about the new Real Help for London booklet,
which details support the Government has introduced to ensure
people are equipped to take advantage of opportunities that will
arise when the upturn comes.
He said: "The Government has introduced a wide range of measures
to help people through these hard economic times. Real Help for
London provides information and advice on the support available to
them."
Newham Council already has a package of measures to alleviate
the impact of the downturn. The Workplace programme has already
placed more than 2,000 people into jobs since it was launched in
2007 and Mayor Sir Robin Wales has promised a further 1,000 people
will get into work by March 2010.
Newham's recession recovery measures include:
For residents:
- No increase in Council Tax
- Proactive support for residents in danger of eviction and
homelessness to keep them in their homes
- Greater promotion to residents of the welfare benefits to which
they are entitled
- Employment service Workplace will help the recently unemployed
back into work as soon as possible
- Greater numbers of and promotion of employment opportunities at
Newham Council
- Promotion of adult training and learning opportunities to
residents
- Major investment in making the borough cleaner and safer to
encourage people to visit and shop in Newham.
For businesses:
- Fast-track of payments by the council to businesses
- Increase in opportunities for local businesses to win contracts
from the council's own procurement systems and from developments in
the borough such as the 2012 Games, Stratford City and
Crossrail
- Promotion of the borough's shopping districts such as Stratford
and Green Street to residents, council employees, fellow Londoners
and the capital's international visitors
- A signposting service for Newham firms to sources of business
support and finance available in the borough and the wider public
sector.
Sir Robin Wales said: "We all face having to tighten out belts
in the current economic climate, but we are doing everything we can
to help people and businesses. These are certainly tougher times,
but we're on their side. We want them to be in the best position to
withstand the pressures and recover quickly."