HC Deb 10 December 2001 vol 376 cc579-80
5.Clive Efford (Eltham)

What assessment he has made of the impact of the new deal for young people in Eltham.[19145]

The Minister for Work (Mr. Nicholas Brown)

Since 1997, youth unemployment in Eltham has fallen by more than 40 per cent. and long-term youth unemployment has fallen by two thirds. The new deal for young people has played an important part in that success. In Eltham, the programme has helped over 600 young people move from welfare to work.

Clive Efford

I welcome my right hon. Friend's answer, particularly the figures on reduced youth unemployment in my community. The benefits that that has brought can be felt far and wide. May I highlight a problem with the new deal? Owing to its success, my local Employment Service says that there are not enough clients to fill the vacancies reported by potential employers. Will he encourage more unemployed people to take up the opportunity to go on the new deal before the statutory six months?

Mr. Brown

We keep under review all the new deal schemes, which have different nuances in the rules relating to the target groups that they try to deal with, but even where the local labour market is tight—I can confirm that that is the case in my hon. Friend's constituency—there are still people who are disadvantaged and out of work, some for considerable periods. That is why we have introduced special new deals focused on the specific needs of those who find the labour market most intractable. I hope that, as the new deals roll out, some of those people are able to take advantage of the tight labour market he describes.

Mr. Mark Field (Cities of London and Westminster)

Is not one problem, which applies in many areas of London and certainly in my constituency, that there is insufficient London weighting in a range of Government schemes? What has the Minister to say about London weighting for public sector jobs and the new deal as a whole?

Mr. Brown

There is a range of issues relating to the special circumstances that pertain to the labour market across London. I am not convinced that London weighting is the sole solution to every shortfall in the labour market. Alongside communities that are prosperous and where the labour market is tight are pockets of real deprivation and long-term, intractable unemployment, where people are left out of the strong labour market in London. A close look at the jobs that are available shows that they are jobs that the long-term unemployed could do, with a bit of training, help and support. That is why the new generation of new deals are specifically focused on people for whom the labour market is the most intractable.