HL Deb 09 July 1997 vol 581 cc80-1WA
Earl Russell

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they accept the findings of the National Association of Citizen's Advice Bureaux publication, Housing Benefit—The Unkindest Cut, that housing benefit restrictions introduced by the previous government are making people under 25 "an increasingly transient unsettled group", and that this transience may hamper the Government's welfare to work programme.

Baroness Hollis of Heigham

The best thing a government can do for young unemployed people is to help them back into work. This is precisely the reason we are introducing the New Deal, which will give work, education and other opportunities to young unemployed people aged 18 to 24 who have been unemployed for over six months. They will be offered a choice of:

  • a job, with employers offered a £60-a-week rebate for six months;
  • work in the voluntary sector;
  • work for the new Environmental Task Force;
  • for young people without qualifications an opportunity to study on a full-time approved course.

This will give the young employed real choices to improve their employability and their chances of getting back into the labour market.

We are committed to a review of the social security system as a whole, including housing benefit. We want a modernised system which will tackle poverty and welfare dependency and promote work incentives. The housing benefit restrictions we inherited from the previous government are included in this review. We have already announced our intention to revoke the extension of the single room rent to people aged 25 to 59, and we are gathering evidence on the impact of the single room rent for the under 25s. Information is being collected from a sample of local authorities on an ongoing basis and officials are meeting local authorities, advice agencies and rent officers to obtain early, direct information on the impact of the changes. A survey has also been commissioned to obtain information on housing benefit and the private rented sector: the results are expected next summer. Reports such as the one produced by the National Association of Citizen's Advice Bureaux will also form part of this information.