RECRUITMENT has started for 600 jobs created under a £4.2 million scheme to get Barnsley people back to work.

The jobs, with salaries of about £12,000 per year paid for partly out of grant funding, are part of a national scheme. The rules say they should last six months but Barnsley is going a step further to guarantee a minimum of 12 months' work.

There are 45 different types of jobs including posts at the council, Barnsley College, NHS Barnsley, Barnsley Hospital, the Fire Service, Berneslai Homes, Voluntary Action Barnsley, Priory Campus and Barnsley Community Build.

They include groundworker support, which will involve litter picking, maintenance and repair of gates and fences, graffiti removal, allotment and garden clearance and cleaning of street furniture.

There are also jobs as trainee care workers, administration assistants, events crews and customer care assistants.

Leader of the council Steve Houghton wrote a report on unemployment which led to the government setting up the scheme, to which Barnsley is now one of the first successful applicants. He said: "Primarily the future jobs fund is about getting people out of unemployment, back into work and learning new skills.

"They're getting proper work experience - proper pay, proper holidays, pension contributions and proper training.

"But at the same time, they're also out there doing work in the community and making a contribution, whether it's keeping the borough clean, organising events, or working with vulnerable people."

The jobs are already being filled through the JobCentre and the first will start in October. They are open to 18-24 years olds claiming job seeker allowance for between 40 and 50 weeks, or older applicants in 'hotspot' areas who have been unemployed and claiming working age benefit for more than a year.