§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what support New Deal participants will receive after their six months placement has finished. [18290]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthNew Deal options are designed to help young people to find work and be better able to sustain employment. Young people who need support to find work after their option will receive intensive help through the New Deal follow-through strategy. The696W strategy is detailed in "Design of the New Deal for 18–24 year olds", published on 9 October, which is available in the Library.
§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what measures have been taken to make the Environment Task Force and voluntary sector options attractive to applicants for the New Deal. [18291]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthWe have consulted widely on the Environment Taskforce and Voluntary Sector options to ensure that they will provide New Deal participants with high-quality work experience placements. Young people on these options will undertake real work, improving their local communities and the environment, and will receive training towards approved qualifications and jobsearch help. They will also receive either a wage, or a grant of up to £400 over the six months in addition to their benefits.
§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what measures have been taken to ensure that employers taking on subsidised applicants through the New Deal are creating additional jobs. [18289]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthEmployers will be asked to give an undertaking that they have not made an existing employee redundant to make way for a New Deal participant. If there is evidence to suggest that this has happened, it will be investigated.
It is not the principal purpose of the subsidy to create additional jobs. The main aim is to encourage employers to consider, when recruiting, people they would normally reject because of the time they have spent in unemployment. By doing this, the New Deal will help to create the conditions under which the economy can continue to grow and produce new jobs.
In addition, some employers may be motivated to increase their workforce, in answer to real business needs, by the availability of a subsidy which offsets initial costs of recruitment and training.
§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the number of people aged over 25 years and unemployed for two or more years who will benefit from the New Deal. [18288]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthNo such estimate has been made. The design of the New Deal for people aged 25 years or over and unemployed for two years or more is being considered.
§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the number of applicants who will enter(a) the subsidised employment option, (b) the full-time education or training option, (c) the voluntary sector option and (d) the Environmental Task Force option of the New Deal. [18287]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthNo such estimates have been made. We will however want as many young people as possible to be able to take a place in the Employment Option, and our planning assumption is that over 40 per cent. of those entering options will do so. It is a key principle of the design of the New Deal for 18–24 year olds that young people should be helped to choose the 697W option most appropriate for them. Each of the options is to provide high-quality opportunities for work, education and training.