• New figures show 347,000 people have moved into work since January – thanks to a Government-backed drive to fill vacancies
• With one month to go until the campaign ends, the Government is calling on UK employers to join forces with Jobcentres to help more people find work
• Alongside vital job support to lift incomes, the new £15 billion package to help with the cost of living will help millions of households

Today the Prime Minister and Work and Pensions Secretary urged employers of all sizes to use the free recruitment support from their local Jobcentre to help fill the record number of vacancies in the jobs market and support the continued economic recovery by getting people into work.

Since January, DWP Jobcentres across the UK have been ramping up operations with weekly jobs fairs – bringing employers in for face-to-face appointments and offering jobs on the spot to thousands of people.

Jobseekers walking away with roles have also secured an income, with those getting full time work set to be thousands of pounds better off than if they were on benefits. Helping households improve their finances and manage current cost of living pressures is a key priority for the government, with a £15 billion package announced yesterday to support almost all of the eight million most vulnerable households across the UK.

Today in the North East of England, the Prime Minister and Work and Pensions Secretary visited CityFibre, a new employer to the Way to Work campaign who have already benefitted from 200 new recruits from around the UK, hired through their local Jobcentres. During the visit, they also met local employees who have secured skilled jobs as a result of the campaign and the support of their local Jobcentre.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

“I was only ten years old when unemployment was last this low.

“But with a vast number of vacancies in the jobs market, it is more critical than ever to access the huge pool of untapped talent in towns and cities right across the country, which is why I am thrilled with the progress we have made with the Way to Work scheme.”

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Thérèse Coffey said:

Unemployment is at its lowest since the 1970s with full time workers across the UK £6000 better off than if they were on benefits.

And there are still vacancies to fill. That’s why our jobcentres are helping employers short circuit the recruitment process so they can get talent in fast.

So, if you’re hiring, make the most of the help on offer from us.

Greg Mesch, Chief Executive at CityFibre said:

CityFibre is rolling out the UK’s finest digital infrastructure to millions of homes and businesses nationwide. To build these new Full Fibre networks, we’re creating thousands of new network construction  jobs and providing industry training to those that need it.

We and our construction partners are working closely with DWP nationally, and local Jobcentres, by engaging with schemes like Way to Work. We look forward to increasing our involvement in the future.

Alongside vital job support to help jobseekers secure an income, the new £15 billion cost of living support package will help almost all of the eight million most vulnerable households across the UK as they are set to receive help of at least £1,200 this year, including a new one-off £650 cost of living payment.

The government has also announced a £500 million increase for the Household Support Fund, delivered by local authorities, extending it to March 2023. This brings the total Household Support Fund to £1.5 billion.

To find out more about how DWP can help fill vacancies with quality candidates, please visit the Way to Work page on GOV.UK

Media enquiries for this press release

Follow DWP on:

The Trade Remedies Authority has today (20 May 2022) recommended new measures to protect the UK’s aluminium extrusion industry from dumped products from China.

The TRA has concluded that these imports are being dumped into the UK at unfair prices and causing injury to the UK industry. The TRA’s interim report, the Statement of Essential Facts, is now open for comments. Once the TRA has considered these comments, a final recommendation will be submitted to the Secretary of State for International Trade who will decide if new trade remedy measures should be put in place on these imports in the form of a tariff at the border.

Aluminium extrusions are commonly used in the manufacture of heavy equipment, such as components for infrastructure projects like mining, oil and gas, chemical and refinery equipment. They can also be found in office infrastructure such as window-frames, doors and railings, cars, buses and trains, and air conditioners, personal watercraft and medical equipment.

TRA Chief Executive Oliver Griffiths said:

“Our interim report concludes that Chinese exports of aluminium extrusions are being dumped in the UK market at lower prices than they are being sold in China. The Secretary of State has agreed that provisional measures should be put in place while we finish the investigation. The measures will protect UK manufacturers of products used in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, building and construction, transport and car manufacture.”

Provisional measures to provide rapid protection to UK producers

During its investigation, the TRA determined that there is already damage to the UK industry, having found clear evidence of price undercutting, indicating that UK businesses are struggling to compete with the dumped imports. The TRA therefore recommended that the Secretary of State for International Trade put in place a provisional measure on these imports while it completes its investigation. Importers will need to provide a bank guarantee to HMRC which shows that they can pay the duty which they will ultimately be required to pay on imports of these goods. This will help make sure UK businesses which make similar goods don’t suffer further damage from these imports while the TRA completes its investigation. The requirement to have a bank guarantee will come into effect on 16 June 2022 and the measures are listed in a notice from HM Revenue and Customs.

Case initiated in response to calls from UK industry

The TRA initiated an investigation into imports of aluminium extrusions from the People’s Republic of China to the UK in June 2021 in response to a request from the domestic industry. There are a number of manufacturers based across the UK making these products, which are mainly aluminium bars, tubes and pipes. They are often used in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, building and construction, transport and car manufacture.

The UK’s first new trade remedies investigation since exiting the European Union

This is the first investigation the TRA has opened that has been brought by a UK industry concerned about possible unfair import practices. The TRA took over responsibility for the UK’s trade remedies regime after the UK left the European Union.

Affected importers will be notified that they need to set up the guarantee when they are importing the goods concerned into the UK. The provisional measures will be different depending on the exporter from whom the importer is purchasing – for instance, whether the exporter was sampled as part of the investigation. They will end in six months or when the investigation concludes, whichever is sooner.

The Statement of Essential Facts sets out the TRA’s judgement based on verified data on what measures should be necessary beyond the end of the investigation.  All parties are invited to comment on the TRA’s findings and reasoning and the TRA will consider all those comments before making a final recommendation to the Secretary of State later in the year.

Notes to editors:

• The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) is the UK body that investigates whether trade remedy measures are needed to counter unfair import practices and unforeseen surges of imports. Trade remedy investigations were carried out by the EU Commission on the UK’s behalf until the UK left the EU.

• Anti-dumping duties allow a country to take action against imports being sold at prices cheaper than they would be sold in their home market. Countervailing duties counteract imports which are subsidised by their place of origin. Anti-dumping and countervailing measures are two of the three types of trade remedies – along with safeguard measures that address sudden, unforeseen floods of imports – that are allowed by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

• Since February 2020, the TRA has been reviewing existing measures the UK inherited from the EU system. This is the TRA’s first investigation into the need for a new trade remedy measure to counter unfair imports.

Notes on this case:

• The TRA was asked to investigate imports of aluminium extrusions from the People’s Republic of China by UK manufacturers of this product. These products, which are mainly aluminium bars, tubes and pipes, are often referred to as ‘aluminium extrusions’ because extrusion (the process of producing a product by forcing the material through a small hole) is the most common manufacturing process, although the products may also be made using processes such as rolling, forging and casting.

• During the course of an investigation, from the early provisional calculations published in a Provisional Affirmative Determination through to further analysis published in a Statement of Essential Facts, further data and evidence is considered and verified that can significantly change the calculations and measures proposed. In this case, the provisional residual rate that importers will pay has reduced significantly during the course of the investigation.

• Summary of the different tariff rates proposed in the Provisional Affirmative Determination and Statement of Essential Facts.

In recent months, the clouds have darkened over the international landscape.

With Putin’s illegal and brutal invasion of Ukraine, war has unfortunately returned to Europe.

The tectonic plates within our geopolitics have shifted.

We are seeing inflation spiking around the world.

We are seeing debt mounting and energy prices rising.

And globally, people are struggling to feed their families, all as we continue to deal with the effects of the pandemic.

Yet the current crises should increase, not diminish, our determination to deliver on the challenges we face on climate, on energy, and on the environment.

The G7 represents some of the most advanced economies in the world.

So, the message we send as the G7 absolutely matters to the global community.

Therefore, I am pleased that we have shown leadership today.

As we sit here, in the shadow of a former coal store, which was then a gas storage tower, now is being converted into offices for clean energy startups, there could be no clearer sign.

Our shared, long-term energy futures do not lie in fossil fuels.

This time last year, the G7 showed that it was prepared to act and now we have gone further still.

I am pleased to say that in this communique we have reaffirmed our unwavering commitment to the Paris Agreement, as well as the commitments made in the Glasgow Climate Pact just six months ago.

I am encouraged that this communique responds to the Glasgow Climate Pact’s ask of nations to revisit and strengthen the ambition of our individual 2030 emission reduction targets.

And in line with this, we call on all countries, but especially major emitters, to increase their ambition, if their 2030 NDCs are not aligned with a 1.5 degree pathway.

On finance, we have reaffirmed our goal to mobilise $100 billion a year to support developing nations, and our confidence that this will be met in 2023.

Following the Just Energy Transition Partnership for South Africa, which we announced at COP26, we have agreed to work on other such ambitious partnerships and I very much hope we will be able to announce some of these by the time we get to Sharm el-Sheikh.

Adaptation and loss and damage were also key pillars of the Glasgow Climate Pact.

In this communique we have underlined their centrality, including our commitment to double adaptation finance by 2025, on 2019 levels, to support those countries most vulnerable to climate change.

But we must show action and deliver on that pledge.

So I am pleased that the communique commits the G7 to do just that.

I welcome the G7’s clear affirmation of commitments on loss and damage, and our support for the operationalisation of the Santiago Network, work on the Global Risk Shield, as well as engagement in the Glasgow Dialogue.

I am encouraged to see G7 support for an inclusive global Climate Club, to coordinate ambitious climate action, including with the G20 and developing countries.

We are equally united in the view that climate and environment security are absolutely synonymous with energy and national security and I cannot overstate that.

Solving the global energy crisis and the chronic climate crisis requires the same solution, it’s about reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, as part of a managed transition.

So I welcome the significant leadership and unity the G7 has shown, to go further than last year on fossil fuel finance, by committing to cease G7 international fossil fuel finance by the end of the year.

We also have the G7’s first coal phase-out goal and endorsement of the Glasgow Breakthroughs.

While governments need to deal with their immediate and acute energy needs, we can, and we must, do this without locking in medium and long-term emissions.

Looking ahead, we must aim to arrive in Egypt having gone further.

In the coming months, this group must continue to discuss the targets for 100% net zero power by 2035, 100% of new car sales being zero emission by early next decade, and clear targets in industrial sectors.

These are tough challenges, and while progress is being made, we must all aim to go further if we are to meet them.

We have no other choice if we really aim to keep 1.5 within reach.

We heard yesterday from the Marshall Islands envoy Tina Stege who told us that the window of time to act is in danger of “slamming shut”. It really is as acute as that for many people around the world.

Additionally, we are all focused on the need to respond to environmental degradation and biodiversity loss.

I am pleased that we are building on the historic G7 2030 Nature Compact, agreed in Carbis Bay last year.

In this communique and the Ocean Deal, we have made a series of essential and ambitious commitments.

And critically, we have joined our foreign and development colleagues in highlighting the need to make the global biodiversity conference, CBD COP15, the equivalent of a Paris moment for nature.

Rapidly scaling up finance for nature is going to be critical to an ambitious biodiversity agreement, so I am pleased we have committed to mobilise resources from all sources, including public finance, while ensuring our economic and financial decision-making aligns with the recovery of nature.

I am pleased in particular that G7 members have committed to ensuring their aid portfolios as a whole become nature-positive.

Despite this progress, across the energy, environment, and climate tracks we have discussed here, our aim to keep 1.5 degrees alive remains fragile.

We must accelerate delivery, turning targets and commitments into action.

And we must show the world that leaders recognise the scale of the challenges we face, that we will make good on the promises that we have made, and that we will continue to build on those commitments.

I want to end by thanking our German hosts for their excellent G7 leadership, and indeed all ministerial colleagues here for continuing to raise the bar, and showing that the G7 remains able and willing to lead from the front, and do so in a united manner.

But it is now vital that this work continues, through the Germany G7 presidency, the Indonesian G20 presidency, at the CBD COP15, and other international fora as we travel on the road to COP27 in Egypt this November.