§ Mr. Nicholas BrownTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out, with statistical information relating as directly as possible to the Newcastle upon Tyne, East and Wallsend constituency, the effects on Newcastle upon Tyne, East and Wallsend of his Department's policies and actions since 1997. [166876]
§ Ruth KellyThe Government has put in place a radical programme of both macroeconomic and microeconomic reform since 1997 to improve the economic performance of all parts of the UK. There is376W significant evidence that these policies have already yielded considerable benefits for the Newcastle upon Tyne, East and Wallsend constituency.
For example, since May 1997, claimant unemployment has almost halved, long-term unemployment has fallen by almost three quarters and long-term youth unemployment has fallen by almost 90 per cent.
The Neighbourhood Statistics Service provides a wide range of statistical information at parliamentary constituency level, taken from the 2001 Census and other sources. This service is available on the National Statistics website at http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/.