§ Mr. NorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the key benefits and objectives of the Hackney task force; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. LeighThe Hackney task force started work on 11 November, so it is too early to assess its achievements.
Like the Government's other inner city task forces, it will seek to secure jobs for local people, improve their employability through work related training, encourage and facilitate local enterprise, and support environmental and crime prevention initiatives where these can be linked to the reintegration of local people into mainstream economic activity.
It will support pump-priming collaborative projects to target the resources of main Government programmes on the most disadvantaged residents of that area, and lever in funding from the local authority and the private and voluntary sectors.