§ 15. Mr. David Rendel (Newbury)What assistance is provided by his Department for unemployed people over the age of 50 wishing to return to work. [40047]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Mr. Alan Howarth)The Department currently provides a wide range of help for all unemployed people over 50 who wish to return to work. That help will be extended from June when the new deal for long-term unemployed people aged 25 and over is introduced.
§ Mr. RendelDoes the Minister agree that in addition to direct assistance to people who are over 50 and unemployed, it would be helpful if he could run a campaign that gives indirect help by persuading employers that the dependability, experience and loyalty older people often exhibit are worth at least as much to them as the qualities in which younger people often excel?
§ Mr. HowarthThe hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, and employers who are prejudiced against employing people in their 50s or older and who discriminate against them frequently do themselves a disservice. Any systematic age discrimination is unacceptable, which is why the Minister of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith), has been consulting on and preparing the policies that we will introduce to end such discrimination.
§ Mr. Dale Campbell—Savours (Workington)The job club in Maryport in my constituency, which is of great help to the over-50s, is to close tomorrow. I am not happy about that because it sends out the wrong signals in an area that has the highest unemployment in Cumbria. Can the decision, even at this late stage, be reviewed? In particular, can the impact of closure be measured so that we can assess what effect it has on the local community?
§ Mr. HowarthNo hon. Member fights more determinedly for his constituents than my hon. Friend. I shall ask the chief executive of the Employment Service to examine the case carefully and satisfy himself that the Employment Service has made the right decision in Maryport. I do not know the detailed circumstances in my hon. Friend's constituency that may have led to that decision, but I can tell him that from June the new deal for long-term unemployed people should be of great value to his constituents.