§ Sir Paul BeresfordTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many young people are eligible to sign up to the New Deal; how many businesses have signed up to support the New Deal; and what is the New Deal's total investment in the Mole Valley constituency. [38161]
§ Mr. Andrew SmithI have placed in the Library a list of the client volume planning assumptions for each New Deal unit of delivery which the Employment Service is using to plan provision for young people aged 18–24. The table shows that the planning assumption for Guildford unit of delivery, which included the Mole Valley constituency, is that 543 young people could be eligible to join the New Deal in 1998–99.
To date, more than 4,000 employers have signed up to New Deal nationally, of which 15 are specifically from the delivery unit. This number will rise significantly as New Deal is operational in this area from 6 April.
It is not possible to state exactly the total investment in New Deal in the area as New Deal is a client led initiative and sufficient funds will be made available to meet the needs of all those eligible.
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