I agree. I recall we had a big push in the 1980s with JTS, YTS, and ETS, where either monies were paid directly to the unemployed to take on work, or paid to the employers to take people on, or for people to carry on receiving their unemployment benefits but being paid a small allowance and their travelling costs. All to get young people into their first proper job and older unemployed back into the workplace. It was a really big initiative and worked pretty well.
I was the external accountant/auditor to a couple of organisations who did the management and administration of local schemes. Both were chambers of commerce, non profit making businesses. The chambers themselves each took on a few dozen unemployed (some school leavers and some older unemployed) to run the scheme, do the admin, pay the wages, manage and pay expense claims, etc. They were really impressive organisations handling hundreds of people on the various schemes.
I remember one school leaver who I worked closely with - it was her first job, on the YTS scheme, and I wasn't much older really, and she was kept on by the Chamber and rose through the ranks to become their chief executive, who now runs it!
We also had "Business Link" very active in the 90s doing all kinds of business start up support activities, assistance with grants and loan applications, even assisting with applications for awards such as Queen's award for exports, etc.
Back in the 80s and 90s, there was a lot of support for business and other organisations to employ people, grow and develop, etc. It's all gone now. A great shame.
But of course until the 90s and 00s, we also had a world class adult education system which has likewise virtually disappeared.
I think current politicians really should look back at the 80s and 90s - there was so much help and support for business, enterprise, growth, employment, etc. It was starting to bear fruit in the late 90s, but everything went pear shaped again in the noughties and it's been bleak ever since.