Youth Contract
Oral Answers to Questions — Work and Pensions
2:30 pm
Karl McCartney (Lincoln, Conservative)
What progress he has made on the youth contract; and if he will make a statement.
Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock, Conservative)
What progress he has made on the youth contract; and if he will make a statement.
Chris Grayling (Minister of State (Employment), Work and Pensions; Epsom and Ewell, Conservative)
The youth contract was successfully launched on
Karl McCartney (Lincoln, Conservative)
I thank the Minister for that illuminating answer. What assessment has been made of the impact of the work experience programme, which is being expanded under the youth contract?
Chris Grayling (Minister of State (Employment), Work and Pensions; Epsom and Ewell, Conservative)
We published the latest assessment of the effectiveness of the work experience scheme last week. It showed that the people who participated were 16% more likely to be off benefits 21 weeks after starting than a similar group who did not. It is worth stating that that is similar to the success rate of the future jobs fund, at a 20th of the cost.
Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon and East Thurrock, Conservative)
Can my right hon. Friend tell the House how the youth contract is being received by employers across the country?
Chris Grayling (Minister of State (Employment), Work and Pensions; Epsom and Ewell, Conservative)
We have had enormously gratifying levels of support from employers for the youth contract, in terms of their willingness both to hire and to give apprenticeships to young people. In particular, I wish to pay tribute to all the companies, large and small, around this country, including in your constituency, Mr Speaker, and that of my hon. Friend, that are providing work experience opportunities for young people. We know that such opportunities give them a much better start in life than those who do not have that experience.
Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East, Labour)
Press reports have suggested that the amount of extra support being given to young people might be as little as a text message. Will the Minister be specific about how much face-to-face advice and support young people are getting under this programme?
Chris Grayling (Minister of State (Employment), Work and Pensions; Epsom and Ewell, Conservative)
Much more than was the case under the previous Government. We do not apply a one-size-fits-all approach; we do not drag somebody in from a work experience placement or from a sector-based work academy to do an interview with them. However, we keep in contact with everyone every week, and when people are not working—when they are not in a work experience placement—we are now providing weekly contact with young people, as opposed to the fortnightly contract that was the case under the previous Government.
Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands, Conservative)
One message coming from Staffordshire Moorlands Community and Voluntary Services, which runs the job club in Leek and Biddulph, in my constituency, is that it would like more employers to offer the youth contract. What can the Minister do to encourage more employers to get involved?
Chris Grayling (Minister of State (Employment), Work and Pensions; Epsom and Ewell, Conservative)
First, I pay tribute to the work being done in the Moorlands by the job clubs there, which is making a real difference to the prospects of the unemployed. What I say to my hon. Friend and to every hon. Member is that there is a real opportunity for each of us, individually, to approach local employers and encourage them to provide work experience opportunities. Tremendous work is already being done by colleagues in organising job fairs and organising different opportunities for young people who are looking for work. We can all play a part in this; it is a way in which this House can be a real activist centre in trying to help unemployed young people.
Stephen Timms (East Ham, Labour)
It is a good thing that the youth contract has finally started. The Deputy Prime Minister says that he told the Cabinet in January last year that something needed to be done on youth unemployment. Why has it taken the Department for Work and Pensions 15 months to make something happen?
Chris Grayling (Minister of State (Employment), Work and Pensions; Epsom and Ewell, Conservative)
I have great respect for the right hon. Gentleman, but on this occasion he has plain got it wrong. Over the past 12 months, we have put in place support through the work experience scheme, and we have put in place the Work programme and sector-based work academies. We have also given greater flexibility to job centres to use funding that is available to them to provide tailored support for people in their community. We have been working hard to tackle a problem of youth unemployment that built up and was left behind as a dreadful legacy by the previous Government.
Stephen Timms (East Ham, Labour)
In the youth contract, the wage subsidies are in a national pot to be handed out on a first-come, first-served basis, so providers will be competing to hand them out as fast as possible, whether or not they are actually needed. Surely it would have been far better to target subsidies where they are needed. Why has the youth contract been so badly designed?
Chris Grayling (Minister of State (Employment), Work and Pensions; Epsom and Ewell, Conservative)
Once again, the right hon. Gentleman has just got it plain wrong. We are targeting this support at young people who are struggling to get into work—the long-term unemployed. I am talking mostly about those who have been out of work for more than nine months, but sometimes this will go to those who have come from the most difficult backgrounds and who have been out of work for three months. This money is targeted absolutely at where it is needed, and I believe that it will make a difference.