§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the average total net cost or gain to the Exchequer of(a) an individual finding sustained unsubsidised employment of 13 weeks or more after leaving the gateway, (b) an individual finding sustained unsubsidised employment of 13 weeks or more after completing one of the options, (c) an individual on follow-through, (d) an individual leaving the gateway to be transferred to another benefit or to return to jobseeker's allowance and (e) an individual completing and leaving an option to be transferred to another benefit or to return to jobseeker' s allowance. [102115]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 9 December 1999]: There is a comprehensive evaluation programme in place for the new deal for young unemployed which will be addressing issues such as this. The impact of the new deal on an individual's employability at each stage is one of the evaluation answers. However, I am advised that precise weighting of the respective benefit of each stage is likely to be difficult. Most evaluation is still in progress and is yet to report. Early evidence suggests a positive effect on outflows of young people from unemployment into jobs. Further quantitative evaluation on the impact of new deal for young unemployed will be published shortly and will be placed in the Library.
§ Mr. RuaneTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many young people have gained employment through the new deal in each constituency. [102589]
§ Ms JowellWe plan to produce and publish summary statistics on the new deal for young people, for every Parliamentary constituency, in the new year. These will demonstrate our good progress towards meeting our Manifesto commitment of 250,000 young people into jobs under the new deal for young people.
§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people have joined the new deal in the (i) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, (ii) Middlesbrough, (iii) Redcar, (iv) Stockton North, (v) Stockton South and (vi) Hartlepool constituencies since the national launch. [102481]
§ Ms JowellTo the end of September 1999 the numbers of people who have joined the new deals for young people and long-term unemployed people aged 25 or over for each constituency are as follows:
New deal 18–24 25 plus Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland 896 572 Middlesbrough 1,632 1,037 Redcar 1,114 631 Stockton North 1,055 292 Stockton South 712 152 Hartlepool 1,007 284 It is encouraging that over 2,800 people have found jobs through these new deals and that we are well on target to meet our commitment of helping 250,000 young people into jobs.