HC Deb 07 February 2001 vol 362 cc619-20W
Charlotte Atkins

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out with statistical information relating as directly as possible to Staffordshire, Moorlands constituency, the effects on Staffordshire, Moorlands of his Department's policies and actions(a) since 2 May 1997 and (b) in the 12 months ending on 1 May 1997. [149137]

Miss Melanie Johnson

Staffordshire, Moorlands constituency, 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. In April 1997, claimant unemployment in the constituency stood at 1,385. By December 2000 it had fallen 41 per cent. to 822. Over the same period, youth unemployment in Staffordshire, Moorlands has fallen by 90 per cent., and long-term unemployment has dropped by 73 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 454 young people in Staffordshire, Moorlands gain valuable skills and experience-254 (56 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, 1,800 families in Staffordshire, Moorlands 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 17,300 in Staffordshire, Moorlands constituency, 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 10,500 in Staffordshire, Moorlands.