Social Exclusion Unit (Hansard, 16 December 2002)

§ The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker)
My Lords, the remit of the Social Exclusion Unit is to help to improve government action to reduce social exclusion by producing long-term solutions to intractable social problems. The unit works mainly on specific projects agreed by the Deputy Prime Minister, in consultation with the Prime Minister. The unit's budget for the current year is £2.9 million, which, given the outcomes, is cheap at the price.

§ Lord Peyton of Yeovil
My Lords, it is not, perhaps, an enormous sum in modern currency, but will the noble Lord take this opportunity to give the House a glimpse into the way in which his right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister—in whose dominion this unit resides—actually brings joined-up 449 solutions into touch with joined-up problems? That would be most interesting, because none of us really understands the meaning of that language.

§ Lord Rooker
Yes, my Lords, that is precisely why I did not use it when answering the noble Lord's Question. I rewrote the Answer to make it refer to the SEU as, producing long-term solutions to intractable social problems", which is what it is about in language that I understand. I have always considered the noble Lord, Lord Peyton, to be what I call a "Tory gent", who really cares about society as a whole. I should point out that the work of the Social Exclusion Unit on young runaways, on reducing reoffending, on making the provision of employment and education more widespread among 16 to 18 year-olds, on reducing teenage pregnancies, on trying to attack the issue of truancy, and on dealing with rough sleeping, addresses issues about which we should all be concerned. Indeed, of themselves, such issues are not the remit of a single government department—hence the valuable work of the SEU.

§ Lord Avebury
My Lords, does the Minister agree that one of the most intractable social problems with which we are faced—and, indeed, have faced over the past 40 years—is how to deal with the problem of accommodation for gypsies? Can he say why that problem and the social disadvantage suffered by gypsies have not been considered by the Social Exclusion Unit?

§ Lord Rooker
My Lords, I cannot give the noble Lord a specific reason. However, as the noble Lord is aware from previous questions that I have answered on the problems faced by people who lead a nomadic life, we have recently commissioned research, which has now been published and is currently under consideration. As I recall, it was published on either 10th October or 10th November. We are actively considering the response, which calls for an extra 2,000 pitches around the country. I genuinely mean that this matter is being given serious consideration by the department.

§ Lord Peyton of Yeovil
My Lords, is the Minister aware that I was not in any way denying that there is a problem? I merely sought to ask the noble Lord whether his right honourable friend the Deputy Prime Minister, who has a huge empire, is able to cope with it? I doubt it.

§ Lord Rooker
My Lords, my right honourable friend is more than up to the job. Bearing in mind the name of the department, it is only now becoming apparent to people—the penny is only just dropping—that the role of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is quite widespread, and rightly so.

§ Baroness Blatch
My Lords, can the Minister tell the House what is being done about reducing teenage pregnancies? Can he also outline the extent to which it has been successful?

§ Lord Rooker
My Lords, I have only a couple of facts available to me today. Conception rates among teenagers have fallen since 1998: there has been a 6 per cent decrease for the under-16s, and a 6 per cent decrease for the under-18s. That is not a brilliant outcome, but it is moving in the right direction.

§ Earl Russell
My Lords, I congratulate the Social Exclusion Unit on the excellent reports that it has produced. As Ministers have some difficulty in discovering the effects of sanctions that disentitle people to social security benefits, could the question of whether that does more to prevent social exclusion or to create it be referred to the Social Exclusion Unit?

§ Lord Rooker
My Lords, speaking from my experience in the former DSS, there is one particular area that causes people problems as regards access to benefits. Although I certainly do not make this offer on behalf of the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister, the design of the application forms for such benefits could probably be looked into because that, in part, is why some people miss out on the benefits available to them.