§ Mrs. BallardTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will take into account when framing the welfare to work proposals the position of people who are not in their preferred employment but do not qualify as being unemployed for six months because they take on a series of temporary agency jobs. [3950]
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§ Mr. Alan HowarthWe are currently considering the detailed design of our New Deal programmes for young people out of work for six months or more. Our key priority is to help people who have experienced a continuous period out of work. We will however take other disadvantaged groups into account in designing the initiative, as far as resources and practicalities allow.