Press Release - 13 February 2007

Letter to the Editor

Dear Sir or Madam

Whilst I support the government's promotion of the importance of learning English to improve employment prospects (Learn English or lose benefits, Daily Telegraph, 13 February), cutting the benefits of 40,000 jobless people will cause unnecessary hardship and will not encourage positive action.

Any scheme which seeks to improve communication between the UK's ethnic minority groups and their white counterparts must be applauded, particularly if the broad aim is to get more people into employment. But there are better ways for the government to be tackling the issue.

More money needs to be poured into ESOL provision throughout the UK to support people as soon as they arrive in the country. The groups QED-UK works with are keen to improve their language skills but find themselves in a catch 22 situation – they cannot afford to undertake language classes and therefore get trapped in low-skilled jobs, which don't pay them enough to improve their career prospects.

There are enough barriers already for members of ethnic minorities to get into employment, so the government should be making it as easy as possible for these groups. We welcome the new programme, run in conjunction with the LSC, but the government should not forget those who are claiming benefits.

QED-UK encourages the groups it works with to focus on learning English as one of the first steps to being integrated into society. It provides ESOL training as well as other basic skills such as interview techniques and CV writing to those seeking employment. Only by offering support and resources every step of the way, can we help to get these 40,000 people into employment.

Dr Mohammed Ali OBE
Chief Executive
QED-UK - the community development charity
m.ali@qed-uk.org

Tel: 01274 483267

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