HC Deb 07 May 1998 vol 311 cc845-6
1. Sir Peter Emery (East Devon)

What steps he will take to increase the proportion of the resources available under the new deal scheme allocated to the long-term unemployed who are over 25 years old. [40033]

The Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Mr. David Blunkett)

Last year we allocated £350 million from the windfall tax to be spent in the current financial year. On 17 March, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer allocated a further £100 million to pilot 70,000 places from November, based on the same programme as the new deal for the under-25s.

Sir Peter Emery

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that reply, but it is pure obfuscation. The unemployment figures show that 118,000 under-25s are unemployed compared with 216,000 elderly people who have been unemployed for over two years and 349,000 elderly people who have been unemployed for one year. However, under the new deal, about £2,600 million is being spent on the young unemployed but only £450 million over four years is being spent on the elderly. Somebody has to speak up for the elderly. It is much more difficult for them to get jobs than it is for younger people.

Mr. Blunkett

As someone who has reached the age of 50, I think that, by anybody's standards, it is pushing it a bit to call the over-25s elderly. What we are providing for the new deal is in addition to the money already being allocated for the Employment Service, training and enterprise and employment zone programmes, which this year will amount to £450 million. So, it is in addition to the resources being allocated for employment measures and adult training measures.

There is a grave misunderstanding among Conservative Members about the nature of the new deal. The new deal is different because it offers a gateway and provides the advice, counselling, education and social support necessary to ensure that when offers of work are in place, the young people have the necessary social and educational skills to take them up and hold on to them. It is an entirely different programme from simply providing make-work schemes, which is what young people have been used to in the past.

Dr. Norman A. Godman (Greenock and Inverclyde)

May I say that I sincerely hope that the young and middle-aged long-term unemployed in my constituency benefit directly from the decision announced today by the Taiwanese electronics firm, Foxteq, to set up a plant in Renfrew—unfortunately not in Inverclyde—which will create 560 new jobs? Locate in Scotland and the Scottish Office deserve our commendation for that. That welcome news emphasises the need to train long-term unemployed people in information technology skills. That is particularly important when those long-term unemployed people were employed hitherto in traditional industries.

Mr. Blunkett

I welcome that news and I agree with my hon. Friend that it is a helpful and positive step forward. In addition to the resources I mentioned a moment ago, a further £100 million has been allocated for skills support, £40 million of which was specific to information technology and the development of centres of excellence across the country. If we can put those in place, we can meet the challenge of not merely the year ahead but of the new century, when people will require new skills, new investment and a different type of work environment.

Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold)

Does the Secretary of State agree that the main judgment on whether the new deal is a success is whether it reduces long-term unemployment for both the young and the old?

Mr. Blunkett

The new deal will be judged by the objectives we have set out, which means preparing people for the world of work, enabling them to take the jobs available and ensuring that they develop the social and educational skills to enable them to deal with a world of insecurity. The overall objective of the Department and the Government is to do exactly the reverse of what the previous Government achieved. We want to reduce the number of long-term unemployed, not to revel in it, which Conservative Members seem to do every time that we have Education and Employment questions.

Mr. Peter L. Pike (Burnley)

My right hon. Friend and the Government are particularly concerned about providing good employment opportunities for the disabled. Will my right hon. Friend spell out what the new deal is doing to help unemployed disabled people get into good employment, not second-class jobs?

Mr. Blunkett

I am very pleased that we have been able to develop 12 new pilot programmes specifically for people with disabilities, from which they will be able to benefit, in addition to the new deal proposals. Disabled people are entitled to join those specific pilot programmes without undergoing a six-month wait. The programmes will enable us to discover what works best, and to build on the experience of the access to work programme. They will also ensure that work-based experience is tailored to the needs of the disabled person, and that support is available for both the employer and the employee, to ensure and secure long-term employment.