Party wants to devolve powers to councils and employers and offer better training opportunities in radical overhaul
Along the snowy quays in Canada Water, south-east London, the waterfront and sidestreets are teeming with new developments. The buildings include shops and cafes – many advertising for full or part-time staff.
Despite extensive gentrification Southwark remains one of the most deprived boroughs in England. The local council has faced a challenge in how to directly link the benefits of shiny new development to the lives of young people growing up in Rotherhithe or Peckham.
Alison McGovern, the shadow employment minister, says Labour wants to bridge that gap between jobcentres and the local knowledge of councils and employers.
It will involve a radical overhaul of what jobcentres offer – with powers fully devolved locally for local authorities to decide how they operate rather than running from central targets and scripts.
Speaking as she toured Southwark’s Skills Centre, a hub for training and apprenticeships in construction with close ties and funding to developers, McGovern said the changes would be one of the pillars of Labour’s offer on jobs.
“Everywhere I go I ask people, what do they think of the jobcentre? I never hear much enthusiasm, we have great people working there but they are constrained by what they are told to do in Whitehall and that’s wrong,” she says. “People locally know their area best, they know how to help people get jobs.
“Jobcentres are...
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