§ 8. Ms Hazel Blears (Salford)What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of new deal pilot schemes for people aged over 50 years. [127927]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Ms Margaret Hodge)New deal 50-plus was widely welcomed in the nine pilot areas. A total of 1,050 people were helped into work through the package of support that it offered. More detailed evaluation findings will be published from later this month. As my hon. Friend knows, the Prime Minister launched the programme nationally in April.
§ Ms BlearsI thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Is she aware that, in the Manchester and Salford city pride new deal area, we have got more than 200 people into work in the past six months? They include Mary, who had not worked for 13 years, who got a job as a sales assistant at Boots the Chemists, and whose life has changed dramatically—she has made new friends and is earning a decent income for the first time in years; and George, who is now a manager on £30,000 a year in Manchester through the new deal programme. Those opportunities would be destroyed by the Conservative party.
We must be aware, however, that many people over 50 need extra help to get into work. Will the Government ensure that the extra support for young people to prepare them for work will also be available to people over 50 who want the chance of a fresh start and hope for the future with the Labour Government?
§ Ms HodgeThe answer to the second part of my hon. Friend's question is a simple yes, we are aware of the additional requirements. The answer to the first part of the question is that I congratulate those of her constituents who have successfully found work. Since the scheme went national, every week so far, 600 people over 50 on voluntary schemes have been helped into work by the new deal 50-plus.
§ Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West)Given that there are just short of 3 million people over 50 but under retirement age who are not working, half of whom have not worked for five years, why have the Government 413 skewed their policy frivolously to waste resources on the new deal to so little effect, while that cohort have been denied the resources that they require?
§ Ms HodgeIt is an outrage for a Conservative Member to dare to stand in the Chamber and talk about the number of over-50s out of work. In the 20 years before we came into government, the number of over-50s in work decreased from 84 per cent, in about 1979, to 66 per cent. when we came into office. That was the legacy that we inherited. The sums that we are spending on adults in the new deal overall are similar to those that we are spending on young people. We do not want to consign anyone to the dustbin of unemployment.