Employment minister Jim Knight has outlined a future for Jobcentre Plus in which unemployed people will have their own personalised web page.
In a speech at the Work Foundation on Wednesday, Knight said that people should be able to perform most of their regular job search functions online, using a personal profile which will link through to jobs suited to them.
A personalised website would also enable unemployed people to track their benefit claims and provide reminders about their next meeting with an adviser.
Knight said that Jobcentres have made good use of technology, including online benefit claims and job vacancies posted on the internet, but that 40 percent of benefit claimants do not have regular access to a computer.
"My vision is for every single person to have access to the internet," he said, "I want most people to apply for their benefits online, look for jobs online and then re-enter work confident in using the technology that is such an essential part of our lives."
He also said that he wanted to see advisers using IT to be proactive, for example, emailing unemployed people with job vacancies and online learning opportunities.
"The initial costs of this do not need to be high, with smart procurement and clever partnerships we can do this reasonably cheaply," he said.
The first steps towards achieving Knight's proposals will be set out in a white paper, Getting Britain Back to Work, to be published later this month.
Talkback
"A personalised website would also enable unemployed people to track their benefit claims"
"but that 40 percent of benefit claimants do not have regular access to a computer."
What about peoples confidentiality and security? not to mention forcing such an important/integral system to some peoples life's online, and making it dependent on a ISP connection that they cannot afford nor want?!
"My vision is for every single person to have access to the internet," he said, "I want most people to apply for their benefits online, look for jobs online and then re-enter work confident in using the technology that is such an essential part of our lives."
If its so bloody essential then why has comandante peter mandleson being allowed to pass policy's that will cut people off without fair nor independent hearings?! where as their biggest crime to that date would have being to purchase a wireless device, that had shit wireless protection!
Why must local community resources be dependent to being online? that only serves to divide the community.
Or is this the new way to tackle unemployment figures? simply by cutting them off?!