New opportunities: fair chances for the future
On 13 January 2009, the UK government published a white paper (New opportunities: fair chances for the future) which sets out a series of measures to improve social mobility in the UK.
The white paper details the government’s agenda for capturing the jobs of the future and investing in families, communities and citizens throughout their lives to help them get on and ahead.
Key measures include:
- An injection of £57million to extend free childcare for disadvantaged two year olds - a further step towards the government’s long term ambition to make a free early learning and childcare place available to all two year olds;
- All vulnerable pregnant mothers to have access to a dedicated family nurse to help them through pregnancy and the first 2 years;
- New £10,000 bonuses to get and keep the most effective teachers in the schools that need them the most, which could reach more than 500 schools and 6,000 teachers a year;
- Creating 35,000 new apprenticeship places so that all qualified young people will have a right to an apprenticeship by 2013;
- A new guarantee for high potential young people from low income backgrounds to get the help they need to get to university;
- Full time community volunteering programme for people not in education, employment or training in 33 local authorities;
- £500 back to work training entitlement for parents and carers;
- £15million communities fund to tackle deprivation on the worst estates and build thriving and sustainable communities.
New opportunities: fair chances for the future (PDF)
