Letter: Remedies for unemployment: community work and shared sacrifice

Sir: Yesterday's unemployment figures are a massive reminder of the sheer waste of human energy in this country, and of the trouble which may be brewing if a large part of the adult population is given a sense of having no creative role within the community.

We therefore welcome recent hints from the Government that it is looking afresh at how unemployed people can be offered work alongside their benefit. Through our different organisations, we are acutely aware of the amount of worthwhile employment which could be made available in two main areas - among the socially deprived and for the betterment of the environment. We also know, from our experience of operating the Community Programme and its successor schemes, how unemployed people can be enabled very successfully to tackle this sort of work.

What we need is an innovative plan that will cut out the red tape in order to offer work to many tens of thousands of unemployed people in ways that will give them immediate benefit and refit them for longer-term employment. Such an initiative may require some extra call on public funds at a difficult time: but we believe this would bring considerable financial benefits to the country, especially if other economic incentives are extended.

The Prime Minister, with his overview of public finance as First Lord of the Treasury, is best placed to see the benefits that his investment would yield. We urge him to take effective action as quickly as possible.

Yours faithfully,

NORRIE, British Trust for Conservation Volunteers; DAVID ATTENBOROUGH, Royal Society for Nature Conservation; GRAHAM ASHWORTH, Tidy Britain Group, MARTIN BRADSHAW, Civic Trust, ELISABETH HOODLESS, Community Service Volunteers

Wallingford, Oxfordshire

19 February