§ Mr. KaufmanTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the constituency, the effect on the Manchester, Gorton constituency of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [136173]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe Manchester, Gorton parliamentary constituency, along with the rest of the United Kingdom, is benefiting from the long-term action we have taken to build economic stability and secure high and stable levels of growth and employment. Since the general election, claimant unemployment in the constituency has fallen by 1,812, or 37 per cent. youth unemployment is down by three-quarters, and long-term unemployment has been cut by more than half.
Macroeconomic stability is being complemented at the microeconomic level by the Government's policies to ease the transition from welfare into work and to make work pay. To the end of the August 2000, the New Deal for 18 to 24-year-olds had helped 1,817 young people in the Manchester, Gorton constituency gain valuable skills and experience—755 (42 per cent.) of whom had moved into employment. The working families tax credit (WFTC), introduced in October 1999, is helping to make work pay for low and middle income families. In May 2000, 2,200 families in Manchester, Gorton were benefiting from WFTC.