§ Mr. HealdTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Plymouth, Sutton (Linda Gilroy), of 13 January,Official Report, column 393, on the economically inactive, if he will make a statement on the Government's plans for the future of the employment zone model. [91615]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownThe performance of the 15 employment zones is encouraging, and they have already helped over 29,000 long-term unemployed people from deprived areas move into work.
From October 2003 we are extending the employment zone approach to lone parents and New Deal returners in existing zone areas. We want to see how well the employment zone approach translates to this wider client group. From April 2004 we also intend to test a multiple provider approach in some employment zone areas.
We are continuing to look at the lessons we can learn from employment zones and how these can be put to use in the longer term.