Balls: If Labour wins, young people jobs guarantee lasts all next parliament

Ed Balls is set to announce today that if Labour wins the next election, its job guarantee scheme for young people would last the whole of the next parliament.

The Compulsory Job Guarantee scheme would see 18 to 24-year-olds who have been unemployed for a year offered a taxpayer-subsidised job.

The job is guaranteed for six months and consists of 25 hours’ work a week on national wage, plus training. Those young people who refuse to take up the job offered to them would lose their benefits.

The Conservatives have criticised the idea and suggested it is not financially viable.

Labour says it can fund the scheme through taxes on bank bonuses and changes to pension tax rules for the rich.