Pictured above: Simon Smithson, regional operations director of Pertemps People Development Group, meets Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne at the Getting Britain Back to Work debate in Birmingham

One of the worlds' leading providers of welfare to work, training and recruitment services joined the national debate on how to tackle unemployment during the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on Tuesday 5th October.

Representatives of Birmingham-based Pertemps People Development Group (PPDG) joined Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, Department for Work and Pensions minister Chris Grayling, Dalton Philips, the CEO of Morrisons supermarkets, and Michelle Dewberry, winner of BBC's The Apprentice, at the event.

Chaired by television presenter Jeremy Kyle, the debate - hosted by The Sun newspaper and called Getting Britain Back to Work - focused on the coalition Government's plans to help jobless people break out of the cycle of unemployment and deprivation.

Mr Grayling told the invited audience that the Government considered tackling endemic worklessness to be crucial in "building a sense of purpose and direction" in people's lives. He said the "Jeremy Kyle generation" reflected the problems the country faces and that the guests on Kyle's show provided a snapshot of the communities that most need support.

Mr Osborne said the Government was concentrating its efforts on plans to tackle unemployment and answering the key questions: "How do we help people who have recently lost their job get back into work again? How do we ensure that they have the right skills to get a job, and how do we help people who have never had a job get into work?"

The Government would also encourage the private sector to grow by cutting business taxes and addressing the welfare system, he added.

Mr Grayling said the new Work Programme, which will be introduced next spring, will be a nationwide initiative delivered by both the private and voluntary sectors. "Providers will take people who are struggling in the jobs market and work to prepare them for a return to work. Government will take a flexible and proactive approach, encourage the gaining of qualifications, provide work placement opportunities and up skill workers to take advantage of existing vacancies."

PPDG regional operations director Simon Smithson took the opportunity to talk to Morrisons' CEO Dalton Philips who said the supermarket currently had 3,000 unfilled vacancies across the UK. It was suggested that such roles could well be suited to longer-term unemployed job seekers enabling them to come off benefits.

PPDG works in partnership with Jobcentre Plus and other organisations, to deliver employment and training initiatives including Flexible New Deal, Employment Zone, Working Neighbourhoods Fund, Lone Parent mentoring, and Learndirect training programmes. More than 100,000 job seekers have been helped into sustained employment by the company since the projects began. It has trained 130,000 people in vocational skills, and over 175,000 people have benefitted from professional information, advice and guidance services.