HC Deb 16 May 1989 vol 153 c175W
81. Mr. Roy Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what new initiatives he has to reduce unemployment.

Mr. Lee

Unemployment has fallen by over 1.2 million and for 32 months in succession, the longest and largest sustained fall on record, as a direct result of the sustained growth brought about by the Government's sound economic policies. Since 1983 the workforce in employment has increased by nearly 3 million and there are now more people in work in this country than ever before in our history. We will continue to provide the right conditions for this jobs growth to continue. In addition we already have in place a comprehensive range of measures to help unemployed people back into the jobs that are becoming available—in particular the restart programme, job clubs and employment training.