HC Deb 13 January 2003 vol 397 c400
9. Mr. John Lyons (Strathkelvin and Bearsden)

If he will make a statement about the effectiveness of action teams for jobs. [89708]

The Minister for Work (Mr. Nicholas Brown)

Action teams are performing well, so far helping over 57,000 jobless people in the country's most deprived areas to move into work. An evaluation study of the first year of the initiative found that 80 per cent. of people who found work through action teams moved into sustained jobs.

Mr. Lyons

In parallel with the work of the action teams there are some outstanding local developments and initiatives that are trying to deal with some of the long-term unemployment problems in rural and semi-rural areas. Will my right hon. Friend ensure that we continue to encourage such initiatives so that we can really tackle the problems?

Mr. Brown

I strongly agree. We have to provide a whole range of modern, labour market-oriented services to sparsely populated communities. The Department takes its outreach work very seriously. We are considering initiatives such as mobile centres to give advice on jobs that are available, and indeed on benefits.

Michael Fabricant (Lichfield)

But does the Minister believe that the 1 per cent. employment tax starting in April will improve job opportunities?

Mr. Brown

The public services have to be funded.

Dr. Stephen Ladyman (South Thanet)

Action teams for jobs have been a great success in my constituency, and there are some wonderful examples of how that initiative has got people back into work. However, does my right hon. Friend accept that its effectiveness is limited in part because it is targeted on priority wards, rather than being provided for the whole district? Can he understand how frustrating it is for somebody to discover that they might be denied help from an action team simply because they live on the wrong side of a road?

Mr. Brown

My understanding is that the action teams are not too prescriptive about this, but I do appreciate the point that my hon. Friend makes. Nevertheless, I think it right that scarce public resources be targeted where the need is greatest, and I do not think that such projects would be helped by the £20 billion cut in public expenditure that we understand is on offer from the Opposition.