Britain announces new policy to address unemployment

British Finance Minister George Osborne Monday unveiled a new policy making the long-term unemployed earn their benefits by taking part in community work placements. Speaking at the annual conference in Manchester, northwest England, Osborne announced the government's new scheme of Help to Work, which designed to tackle long term unemployment. "For the first time, people in long-term unemployment who are capable of work will be asked to work in return for their benefits." He said. According to the new policy, starting from April 2014, the long-term unemployed who have been unemployed for three years or more will be asked to take part in community work placements, such as clearing up litter and graffiti in their local areas, and attend daily signings at the job center until they find work. People who break the rules once will lose four weeks benefit worth about 230 pounds (371 U.S. dollars), while a second infringement could cost them three months, said officials. The scheme is reported as a new attempt made by the Conservative-led government to reform the benefits system, which Prime Minister David Cameron says does not provide enough incentives for people to go out to work. Under a new slogan at the Conservative Party conference "For Hardworking People,', the finance minister said that he wants to end a "something for nothing" culture in the country. According to the latest official figures, British unemployment rate dropped to 7.7 percent in the three months ending July, with the number of unemployed people at 2.49 million.