A scheme to create more than 5,000 jobs in the cultural sector has been unveiled by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Arts organisations, local councils and creative industry bodies are invited to bid this autumn for funding for the new posts from the £1.1bn Future Jobs Fund launched in April's budget.
The DCMS said the successful applicants would "be paid at least the National Minimum Wage. [The jobs] will be targeted primarily at 18- to 24-year-olds, but some will also be available for other disadvantaged groups and unemployment hotspots."
The Future Jobs Fund contribution for each job will be up to £6,500. Project partners include the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), Arts Council England and the National Museum Directors' Conference.
MLA chief executive Roy Clare said: "The MLA has been able to offer advice and ideas on the ways museums, libraries and archives can contribute to delivering these plans. We welcome the opportunity for cross-departmental working between the DCMS and DWP and believe it will be most effectively delivered using existing channels and sufficient time to develop proposals."
But Tom Bewick, chief executive of the Creative and Cultural Skills campaigning body, questioned the move.
"At one level, we welcome any attempt to grow jobs and skills in the cultural sector," he said. "However, there is still a lot of detail to emerge from this proposal. We need to watch, in particular, that this isn't just workfare by another name.
"Equally, we need to ensure that these jobs entail proper accredited training, leading to either sustainable jobs or transferable skills that will help prepare people much better for when the recession ends."
Arts organisations, local councils and creative industry bodies are invited to bid this autumn for funding for the new posts from the £1.1bn Future Jobs Fund launched in April's budget.
The DCMS said the successful applicants would "be paid at least the National Minimum Wage. [The jobs] will be targeted primarily at 18- to 24-year-olds, but some will also be available for other disadvantaged groups and unemployment hotspots."
The Future Jobs Fund contribution for each job will be up to £6,500. Project partners include the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), Arts Council England and the National Museum Directors' Conference.
MLA chief executive Roy Clare said: "The MLA has been able to offer advice and ideas on the ways museums, libraries and archives can contribute to delivering these plans. We welcome the opportunity for cross-departmental working between the DCMS and DWP and believe it will be most effectively delivered using existing channels and sufficient time to develop proposals."
But Tom Bewick, chief executive of the Creative and Cultural Skills campaigning body, questioned the move.
"At one level, we welcome any attempt to grow jobs and skills in the cultural sector," he said. "However, there is still a lot of detail to emerge from this proposal. We need to watch, in particular, that this isn't just workfare by another name.
"Equally, we need to ensure that these jobs entail proper accredited training, leading to either sustainable jobs or transferable skills that will help prepare people much better for when the recession ends."
