A new deal or new disadvantage? British ethnic minorities and Government training

In Britain, welfare-to-work has been hailed as a radical initiative to help those that are socially and economically disadvantaged in society. The New Deal promises to offer young long term unemployed people the opportunity t o train and experience the world of work in a bid to make them move attract ive to employers It is especially pertinent to ethnic minorities who have b een identified as having an increased tendency to be unemployed. However, t he intention to help ethnic minorities has not been matched with changes to the institutional framework for the delivery of training and work experien ce placements. This article assesses the likely impact of the New Deal on u nemployed people from ethic minority communities. It contends that the fail ure of the present arrangement to cater for the needs of ethnic minorities may affect the success of the New Deal as far as ethnic minorities are conc erned.