A Government minister has visited Bradford to support a scheme aimed at targeting unemployment in the city.

The West Yorkshire Employer Coalition was unveiled yesterday to help more than 180,000 people in the county into the job market.

Minister for Work Jane Kennedy told the district's business leaders that the project would help bring more people from ethnic communities and single parents back into work.

Speaking at a conference at the Hilton Hotel, she said the level of unemployment among Pakistani men in Bradford was three times higher than for white men.

The West Yorkshire Employer Coalition is part of the National Employment Panel which was introduced by the Government as part of its welfare to work programme.

An employer coalition has been operating in Leeds since 1998 but now the project is being rolled out across West Yorkshire.

The coalition's chairman, Tony Grant, said the project would allow businesses to work with Jobcentre plus to develop projects which meet the needs of both employers and job seekers.

He said: "As well as the one million or so who are unemployed and claiming job seekers' allowance, there are one million lone parents who are not yet in jobs and the three million or so receiving Incapacity Benefit.

"Our conviction, shared with the Government and across political boundaries, is that helping these people to enter sustained work will boost economic growth and reduce poverty and social exclusion. We believe this will be good for business and good for people."

In West Yorkshire there are 188,600 people of working age who are not in the labour market.

Mrs Kennedy said the coalition would allow the Government to provide a rapid response to skills and job shortages in Bradford.

She said: "Here in Bradford there is a significant number of single parents who are out of work and we know 90 per cent of lone parents would like to be able to work."

Mrs Kennedy said the project would also look at helping people who receive disability allowance or incapacity benefit into the job market.

The coalition was welcomed by Gary Sykes, office manager for jobcentre plus in Bradford.

He said: "This is something I have been hoping for and pushing for for a long time.

"Anything more we can do to listen to the employer is bound to be good."