Action plan on jobs

The announcement follows Friday’s news that unemployment had hit a record high with 1,500 people registered out of work at the end of October.

They also showed that long-term unemployment of more than 52 weeks had doubled in the last 12 months.

Chief Minister Ian Gorst now plans to use around £4 million left over from department budgets last year to fund extensive plans to get Islanders back to work.

He also appears to have been given almost a blank cheque from Treasury Minister Philip Ozouf, who has promised that funding will be available as soon as it is needed to allow departments to concentrate on the tasks ahead.