Justine Greening (- Shadow Minister, Communities and Local Government; Putney, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of the Future Jobs Fund has been allocated to the creation of 50,000 jobs in unemployment hotspots; what criteria her Department uses to define an unemployment hotspot; and what the eligibility criteria for applications for such posts are.

Jim Knight (Minister of State (the South West), Regional Affairs; South Dorset, Labour)

The proportion of jobs in each bid targeted at those living in areas of high unemployment will be negotiated with successful bidders, during the Grant Award period. Therefore, complete information is not available at this time.

Unemployment hotspots are defined as areas of high unemployment, where the rate of claimant unemployment is at least 1.5 percentage points above the national average. Our assumption is that approximately one-third of the £1 billion will be allocated to hotspot areas.

Jobs in areas of high unemployment will not be restricted to 18-24 year olds approaching the 10 month point of their Jobseeker's Allowance claim. Customers claiming other out of work benefits for at least 39 weeks and living in the specified area will be eligible to apply for these jobs.