§ Ms HarmanTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the London borough of Southwark, the effects on the London borough of Southwark of his Department's policies and actions since May 2 1997. [155978]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe London borough of Southwark, along with the rest of the United Kingdom, is benefiting from the long-term action we have taken to build economic stability and secure high and stable levels of growth and employment. Since the General Election, claimant unemployment in the borough has fallen by 41W 5,235 or 36 per cent., youth unemployment is down by 74 per cent., and long-term unemployment has fallen by 58 per cent.
Macro-economic stability is being complemented at the micro-economic level by the Government's policies to ease the transition from welfare into work and to make work pay. To the end of December 2000, the New Deal for 18 to 24-year-olds had helped 5,052 young people in the London borough of Southwark gain valuable skills and experience–1,883 (37 per cent.) of whom had moved into employment. The Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC), introduced in October 1999, is helping to make work pay for low and middle income families. In August 2000, 3,800 families in the borough were benefiting from WFTC.
The Government are also committed to policies that enable pensioners to share in tile country's rising prosperity. All pensioners, including 32,000 in the London borough of Southwark, will receive an above-inflation increase in the basic state pension from April 2001. Single pensioners will receive an extra £5 a week, and couples will receive an extra £8 a week. All pensioners aged 75 or over have aim, been entitled to a free TV licence since November 2000-including around 20,000 in the London borough of Southwark.