§ Mr. ClellandTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in(a) Newcastle upon Tyne and (b) Gateshead have been assisted by the New Deal. [89530]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownThe available information is in the table.
Total number of programme participants1 Newcastle upon Tyne2 Gateshead2 New Deal for Young People (from January 1998) 7,930 4,570 New Deal 25 plus (from July 1998) 6.560 3,260 New Deal for Lone Parents (from July 1998) 1,710 1,140 New Deal 50 plus (Employment Credit claims) (from April 2000) 440 370 1Up to end of September 2002. 2Local authority areas. Note:
The information is not available at local authority level for the New Deal for Disabled People and New Deal for Partners.
Source:
New Evaluation Database.
§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) pursuant to his answer of 19 December 2002, refs 88095, 88096 and 88138, on the New Deal Environment Task Force, if he will list the amount of the under spend in each financial year to 2002–03; [89862]
(2) pursuant to his answer of 19 December 2002, refs 88095, 88096 and 88138, on the New Deal Environment Task Force, if he will list the other welfare to work initiatives that have been supported by the under spend against the original assumptions for the Environment Task Force; and if he will list the (a) additional amount spent as a result of the under spend on the Environment Task Force, (b) planned total spending and (c) actual expenditure in each financial year to 2002–03 for each such initiative. [89870]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownInformation on under spends and their re-allocation is not available for individual New Deal Options, because while records are kept on the annual expenditure on each New Deal for Young People Option, annual budgets are not allocated on that basis. The purpose of the New Deal is to help young people move into work by meeting their individual needs. Therefore, an overall budget is allocated to Jobcentre Plus districts, which is then used as required to meet this objective.
My answer of 19 December to the hon. Member, Official Report, column 1031W, refers to expenditure and under spends across the New Deal for Young People which have been re-allocated to support other welfare to work initiatives. For example, at the time of the 1998 Budget, it was estimated that £2.620 billion Windfall Tax would be spent on the New Deal for Young People by March 2002. Actual expenditure on the programme during this period was £1.190 billion, freeing funds for new initiatives such as Action Teams for Jobs and the permanent establishment of the New Deals.
Information on the allocation of the Windfall Tax to welfare to work initiatives is in the pre-Budget report published in November 2002. This is available in the Library.
383W
§ Ms Christine RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people in the City of Chester have been helped into jobs by the New Deal. [90281]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownUp to the end of September 2002, the New Deal had helped nearly 400,000 young people into work, including 374 in the City of Chester.