HC Deb 01 March 2001 vol 363 c769W
Mrs. Anne Campbell

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact of his measures designed to reduce youth and long term unemployment. [150154]

Mr. Timms

Through the New Deal for Young People we have helped nearly 270,000 young unemployed people into jobs, further building upon the Government's manifesto commitment to help 250,000 into jobs this Parliament. In addition, over 60,000 long-term unemployed people have been helped to move from welfare and into work through the New Deal for the Long-Term Unemployed.

Recent independent evaluation of the New Deal for Young People has shown that over 200,000 young people left unemployment earlier than they would have done without the programme, with 60,000 entering into employment.

The. New Deal helps the young and long-term unemployed to secure jobs as the most effective way of enhancing their earnings, increasing their skills and securing their future economic independence. Furthermore, New Deal is just part of the Government's package of measures aimed at providing employment opportunity for all, by helping people to compete effectively for jobs, increasing work incentives and addressing the specific labour market problems of particular groups of people or local areas.

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