§ Lord Mason of Barnsleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Under the New Deal Programme for the under 25s, what is the average cost over the last 12 months of placing an individual into (a) sustainable employment, and (b) sustainable self-employment, giving the figures both nationally and specifically for the Yorkshire and Humberside region. [HL1640]
§ Baroness BlackstoneInformation over the 12 months since February 2000 to January 2001 (the most recently published set of monthly statistics) shows that almost 174,000 young people started on the programme and 104,000 jobs have been taken up, of which more than 80,000 have been sustained. In Yorkshire and Humberside, nearly 19,000 young people have joined the New Deal and nearly 12,000 jobs have been taken up, of which 9,000 have been sustained. On average around £2,000 is spent on each18WA participant on the New Deal for young people and the cost per sustained job is around £5,000 both nationally and in Yorkshire and Humberside. Statistics are published each month that show the numbers of young people who find a job through New Deal: these do not distinguish between self-employed and employed earners.
In today's youth labour market, it can take young people one or two starts before they settle in a job. Because of this, the Government's approach is to calculate the cost per job figure including both sustained and unsustained jobs. Any job can offer considerable benefits to the participant through increased self-confidence and useful work experience, even if the job does not last. Calculated on this basis, the cost per job figure is around £4,000. People who leave for a job that does not last and return to claim the Jobseeker's Allowance will be offered further help from the New Deal.