§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimate she has made of the number of people in the Warrington, North constituency who will benefit from the New Deal. [23851]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe New Deal for Lone Parents fulfils the Government's commitment to provide practical help and advice to lone parents on Income Support who want to work. One of the eight areas in which the programme is already available is the Benefits Agency District of North Cheshire, which covers the Warrington North Parliamentary Constituency. The New Deal for Lone Parents will be available to all lone parents who make a new claim for Income Support from April 1998, and will be extended to cover existing claimants from October 1998.
Estimates are not available by Parliamentary Constituency for the number of people who might benefit from the New Deal for Lone Parents. It is, however, estimated that there are around 3,000 lone parents receiving Income Support in the Warrington Local Authority District and who could therefore take advantage of the services already on offer through this programme.
The New Deal for Young People will give work, education and other opportunities to those aged 18 to 24 who have been unemployed for over six months. This programme will begin in 12 pathfinder offices this month and will be introduced nationally in April 1998. It is estimated that, in 1998–99, 1,700 people would become eligible for the New Deal for the Young Unemployed in the Halton and Warrington unit of delivery, which comprises the areas covered by the Runcorn Bridgewater, Runcorn Rutland, Warrington and Widnes Employment Service Jobcentres.
The New Deal for Young People will be followed in June 1998 by the New Deal for the long-term unemployed, which will provide subsidies to employers of £75 per week for six months if they take on those people aged 25 or over who have been unemployed for two years or more. The latest available data indicate that there are around 1,000 people in this category in the Halton and Warrington unit of delivery.
The number of people in the Warrington area who will benefit from the New Deal for people with a disability or long-term health problem is not yet known. A tendering exercise is currently underway for innovative schemes, and plans for introducing personal advisers for this group will be announced later this year.