ONE hundred new jobs are being created to help people off incapacity benefit and into work.

Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI) at Aylesford has landed a lucrative government contract to provide expert services across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

Under the Pathways to Work programme, which is already in operation in most other parts of the country, personal advisers from public, private and voluntary sectors give specialist help to the long-term unemployed to encourage them back into the workplace. It involves one-to-one interviews, rehabilitation support, a Return to Work Credit of £40 a week, and in-work assistance.

RBLI already employs 350 people and the new contract will double the number of staff in its employment solutions division from 100 to 200.

John Quin, RBLI chief executive, hailed the contract as a tremendous endorsement of the work the organisation had been doing for years. "We are excited about greatly expanding our services to help more people into meaningful and long-term employment," he said.

"We will be recruiting a hundred people throughout Kent, Surrey and Sussex. It’s probably going to lead to RBLI doubling in size overall within two years. There are not many organisations that have got more than two districts in the whole country so we are very pleased we’ve got three."

He added: "We are absolutely committed to ensuring that our benchmark high standards of quality and service continue in the way we deliver services to our customers."

Caroline Flint, minister for Employment and Welfare Reform, said: "Working in partnership with the private and voluntary sectors will help us to remove the barriers to employment that people on incapacity benefits sometimes face and help us to achieve our goal of full employment in our generation."

She said the Pathways to Work scheme had helped more than 69,000 people into work. RBLI already helps around 2,000 people into work each year and Mr Quin expects that number to rise to 7,000 by 2009.