Young People (Hansard, 12 February 1998)

§ 4. Gillian Merron
What his economic priorities are for the enhancement of opportunities for young people during the British presidency. [27204]

§ Mr. Gordon Brown
I shall be using the United Kingdom presidency of the European Union to advocate policies that ensure that all young people throughout the Community—5 million of whom are unemployed—are equipped with the skills that they need and given the job opportunities that they want. At the Cardiff summit, we shall consider action plans from each Government.

§ Gillian Merron
I thank my right hon. Friend for his reply, which shows that, if Britain takes a lead and the European Union countries follow, we shall at last ensure that the EU tackles the youth unemployment challenges that lie ahead. [Interruption.] Does he agree that the welfare-to-work programmes, such as the ones to which he has referred, must feature high-quality training, so that they can benefit the 272 unemployed people under 25 in my constituency of Lincoln and the other unemployed young people in the European Union?

§ Mr. Brown
I agree entirely, and it is interesting that, when my hon. Friend mentioned the problems of youth unemployment in her area, Conservative Members sneered at what she is doing. Every hon. Member should consider himself an ambassador for the new deal. It is the 538 opportunity to end the social divisions that have characterised this country as regards youth employment. Most sensible people want that programme to succeed.

§ Mr. Blunt
Is the Chancellor aware that a number of young people in my constituency work in the duty-free trade, which is due to be abolished in 1999? They cannot understand why that trade should be abolished when duty rates throughout the European Union remain wildly divergent and there is not a single market in those goods.

§ Mr. Brown
I wonder whether the hon. Gentleman was told when he arrived in this place that the previous Government agreed to the abolition of duty free. We are now having to deal with the consequences and are considering those matters.

§ Mr. Derek Foster
I commend my right hon. Friend for the tremendous political drive that he has put behind the new deal for young people, which should prove an excellent model for our European partners. On flexible labour markets, does he agree that those have nothing to do with macho management, hire and fire and screwing down the wages and working conditions of the work force, and everything to do with superb management, recognising the unique contribution that labour has to make to productivity and the quality of the product and proper investment in training and development of staff?

§ Mr. Brown
I applaud the efforts of my right hon. Friend as Chairman of the Employment Sub-Committee of the Select Committee on Education and Employment and the work that he and his colleagues have done on those issues. He is right. The key to our future is: first, giving young people opportunities; secondly, as he rightly said, giving them the skills, both right across the board and for five to seven-year-olds, as our education announcement today begins to do; and thirdly, management working with the work force to ensure that we have a prosperous economy. Those are the ways forward for our economy.

§ Dr. Cable
Does the Chancellor accept that the Government's commitment to young people is weakened by the effect of today's announcement on class sizes, which excluded half all local authorities, including mine in Richmond? Does he also accept that the state of public finances is now sufficiently secure that he could afford to relax immediately the capping restrictions to allow local authorities to invest in education and reduce class sizes?

§ Mr. Brown
I thought that the hon. Gentleman would want to applaud the investment of £22 million, which was taken from the assisted places scheme by the Government's decision to redistribute resources to help five and seven-year-olds, and the fact that we are making available capital investment—£1.2 billion from the windfall levy—for schools to be refurbished. At the last election, I seem to remember the Liberal Democrat party proposing a £500 million programme. We have produced a £1.2 billion programme and that is the difference between us and the Liberal Democrats. We take action; they just talk.

§ Mr. Hutton
I welcome the priority that the Government attach to tackling youth unemployment 539 during the United Kingdom presidency of the European Union. Will my right hon. Friend take this opportunity to congratulate Wesley Morgan, the first of my constituents to benefit from a new job under the new deal, and his employers Cumbria Specialist Coaches? Is not the new deal good news for business and a great deal for the long-term unemployed?

§ Mr. Brown
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for mentioning one of the many people who have benefited from the new deal. I congratulate him and other hon. Members who have involved themselves directly in that programme. In the past four weeks, 8,000 young people in the 12 pilot areas have been interviewed, with new deal offers of jobs and training. Already, 4,000 have been matched up with jobs and that is a considerable achievement. I look forward, as does the House, I believe, to that programme becoming nationwide, and applying to every constituency.