§ Miss Geraldine SmithTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, including statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency, the effects of his Department's policies and actions since 2 May 1997. [149088]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonMorecambe and Lunesdale, 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 constituency has fallen by 935, or 33 per cent., youth unemployment is down by 88 per cent., and long-term unemployment has fallen by 66 per cent.
Macroeconomic stability is being complemented at the microeconomic level by the Government's policies to ease the transition from welfare into work and to make work pay. To the end of November 2000, the New Deal for 18 to 24-year-olds had helped 1,080 young people in Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency gain valuable skills and experience—564 (52 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, 2,100 families in the constituency were benefiting from WFTC.
The Government are also committed to developing policies which enable all pensioners to share in the country's rising prosperity. As a result of the recent pre-Budget report, all pensioners, including 18,600 in Morecambe and Lunesdale, 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 also been entitled to a free TV licence since November 2000—including around 12,000 in Morecambe and Lunesdale.