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Tens of thousands of apprenticeships, training places and jobs will be created in the West Midlands under a Tory government, the Shadow Chancellor has pledged.

George Osborne said the Conservatives would divert billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money away from “failed” Labour projects like Train 2 Gain and would tighten up on the benefits system to fund new opportunities.

He has also pledged support for areas like Wolverhampton, which is one of the UK’s worst jobless blackspots with 12,000 on the dole.

Mr Osborne told the Express & Star the Conservatives would create 1,000 apprenticeships, 1,000 work pairings and training places and 500 opportunities for people to start their own businesses or go to university. And he pledged to fund the 300 jobs in the city by axing funding for “failed” Labour employment schemes such as Train 2 Gain.

He also said he would cut benefits for people who were found to be fit to work.

Mr Osborne said: “We have had some tough decisions but if someone is claiming incapacity benefit they will have to have a medical and could end up just on Jobseekers’ Allowance.

“If anyone sets up a new business in the West Midlands under a Conservative government then for the first two years they would not pay any tax on the first 10 people they employ. We need to remove the red tape that is preventing smaller businesses from taking people on. “Train 2 Gain and other Labour projects have failed so we will divert the money away from those and into initiatives that will work.

“Britain is still in recession while almost every other country has emerged.”

According to the Tories, eight people are chasing every job vacancy in Birmingham compared to an average of six Jobseekers per vacancy nationally.

Across the region they promise 55,000 new jobs and training schemes including 22,500 apprenticeships, 11,000 training places, 5,000 new jobs and 3,500 opportunities for people to start up their own businesses. In September Wolverhampton saw the only increase in unemployment in the Black Country, with its claimant count up 143 to 11,821. The city and Hull now have the highest proportion of jobseeker allowance claimants in the UK.

In Dudley the figure fell 42 to 11,090, or six per cent, while in Sandwell it also dropped, down 79 to 13,718, or 7.8 per cent.

Walsall saw a slight fall, of 11, to 11,212 or 7.5 per cent of the working population.

In South Staffs the count dropped 68 to 2,171 or 3.4 per cent.

The Conservatives’ plan comes just over two months after Prime Minister Gordon Brown used a visit to Birmingham to pledge to get 85,000 young people into work.

He said Labour had secured the backing of 150 businesses to offer apprenticeships and mentor people aged under 25. Firms include Microsoft, Virgin Media and Phones4U.

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