§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list for each(a) area-based and (b) other regeneration-related initiative for which his Department is responsible (i) the amount budgeted and (ii) the total expenditure in each financial year for the planned lifetime of each initiative (a) in the UK and (b) in the Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency. [16432]
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list for each(a) area-based and (b) other regeneration-related initiative for which his Department is responsible (i) the amount budgeted and (ii) the total expended in each financial year for the planned lifetime of each initiative. [14037]
§ Mr. Nicholas Brown[holding answer 20 November 2001]: Action Teams for Jobs are the Department's main Area-Based Initiative. They are based in some of the most employment-deprived areas of Great Britain and work closely with local regeneration-related initiatives.
Action teams were announced as a one-year initiative in the March 2000 Budget. Three pathfinder Teams started in June 2000, 37 others followed in mid-October 2000, all completed their first year on 12 October 2001. Although final figures are not yet available, initial results indicate that the Teams have engaged over 38,000 clients and helped 41 per cent, (over 15,500) of them into work.
My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the Budget that the initiative would be extended to March 2004 and expanded to include seven new areas, while a number of existing areas would be divided to sharpen their focus on the most disadvantaged areas. By 2002 there will 63 action teams across GB.
Information on action team budgets and expenditure is not available in the form requested. £45.5 million was available for the original 40 teams for their initial one-year life-span. £133 million in total has been allocated to the initiative for the period October 2001 to March 2004.
An action team has been operating in the area covered by the Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland Employment Zone since October 2000. It did not originally include any part of the Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency. However, in March 2001 the Team's remit was extended to cover certain disadvantaged groups across the whole of Redcar and Cleveland.
From January 2002 there will be two separate action teams in the Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland area. One in Middlesbrough, covering 13 wards with high levels of worklessness (Ayresome; Beckfield; Beechwood; Berwich; Easterside; Grove Hill; Hemlington; North Ormsby; Pallister; Park End; St. Hilda's; Stainton and Thornton and Thorntree) and another in Redcar and 360W Cleveland covering six wards (Coatham; Newcomen; Grangetown; South Bank; Kirkleatham and Easton). The Middlesbrough Action Team will include two wards in the Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency, Hemlington and Park End.
The current Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland Action Team has been allocated £625,000 for the period October 2000 to December 2001. The new Middlesbrough Action Team has been allocated £760,000 a year from January 2002 and the new Redcar and Cleveland Action Team has been allocated £500,000 a year.
Another Area-Based Initiative is the Employment Zone initiative which was introduced in April 2000 to test out an alternative approach to delivering help to long-term unemployed people find work. They are located in 15 areas of the country where there are high concentrations of long-term unemployment.
Originally intended to run for two years until March 2002, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment announced in February 2001 that the Zones would be extended for one year until March 2003.
The amount budgeted and the total expenditure to date is as follows:
£ million Year Budget Spend 2000–01 52.945 68.273 2001–02 83.374 — 2002–03 53.574 — The Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland Employment Zone covers the following wards in the Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East constituency: Hutton, Guisborough, Saltburn, Skelton, Belmont, Brotton, Lockwood, Loftus, Hemlington and Park End. The Zone's total expenditure for the financial year 2000–01 was nearly £3.2 million.
It is not possible to identify other specific regeneration-related expenditure in any meaningful way. All the programmes run by the Department for Work and Pensions aim to support the Government's overarching commitment to tackling social exclusion and poverty and improving economic growth. We are doing this in particular by providing a joined-up approach to employment and benefit policies for people of working age, with a single modern, nationwide point of delivery for advice and support on jobs and benefits through Jobcentre Plus; and by introducing a new Pension Service to provide advice and support to today's and tomorrow's pensioners, including the introduction of the pension credit.