DISABLED people and single parents have been given a £1.5 million boost to help them get long-term jobs.

Bury and Stockport councils have won European funding to pioneer a new approach to helping disavantaged people secure proper employment.

Other residents who benefit are those with learning disabilities, from ethnic minorities and women who are under-represented in the workforce.

The money will help them encourage employers to draw up new ways of recruiting and supporting staff from the above groups. Bury bid for the funding after its own research highlighted the limitations of current "supported employment" programmes. These focus largely on training and preparation rather than helping people get into real jobs and stay in them.

As a result, many people who would like to work are put off, or have to give up their job because of lack of support. Employers, meanwhile, could be missing out on talent by recruiting from a small segment of the potential workforce.

Figures show that people with disabilities are nearly seven times as likely as non-disabled people to be out of work and claiming benefits.

Councillor Mike Connolly, Bury's executive member for health, housing and social services, said: "Our first project gave us valuable experience in working with employers and discovering what they needed to successfully recruit and support disadvantaged people.

"This will be a radical re-think. We expect to work closely with a range of employers from all business sectors to explore new ways of recruiting and supporting disadvantaged people."

The project will focus on supporting employers, rather than individual job seekers, and aims to create a model service that other councils can learn from when setting up their Welfare to Work strategies. Findings from the project will feed into both National and International Welfare to Work Policy.

Funding for the project has come from the EQUAL GB Community Initiative Programme and runs until 2005, after which further cash will publicise and promote its findings.