Councils need to ''get creative'' for UK jobs

A senior minister has appealed for local councils to fully focus on creating jobs as the government tries to drive home its £1 billion Future Jobs Fund.

Local government minister John Healey has encouraged local authorities to take control of jobs programmes as they know their localities much better than central government.

Mr Healey said: "It is vital that at every level, whether Whitehall, the town hall or the community itself, we are doing everything we can to help people to stay in their homes and jobs."

He added that councils can now apply for funding from the Future Jobs Fund and particularly encouraged those with deprived communities to apply and start thinking creatively about how they can create jobs.

The comments came after the publication of the Houghton key economic report, which called for the creation of a jobs fund led by local councils.

Work and pensions secretary James Purnell and culture secretary Andy Burnham recently revealed they want 5,000 new creative and cultural jobs to be created with money applied for from the Future Jobs Fund.