I begin by congratulating Mr. Bone on securing the debate and I thank Mr. Hollobone for his comments. They both spoke up effectively for their constituents. I will address most of my comments to the hon. Member for Wellingborough, who initiated the debate, but much of what I say also applies to Kettering.

The hon. Member for Wellingborough is right to say that unemployment in his Constituency has increased recently. On examining the reasons for that, I noticed that over the last year, three companies made substantial lay-offs in his constituency—Carlsberg, Avon and Golden Wonder. None of them comes under the label of traditional manufacturing, however, and I notice that he sought to lay the blame for the increase in unemployment on the decline in manufacturing employment. The situation is more complex than that.

I would like to take this opportunity to undertake a forensic examination of both unemployment and employment in the hon. Gentleman's constituency. First, let me clear up how things stand now as opposed to May 1997 when this Government came to office. He referred to that in his speech, so I will respond. I know that he had a disagreement with my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the exchequer on this issue in the House a short while ago, so here are the facts.

In May 1997, when the Government came to office, the claimant count in Wellingborough was 1,826. Last month, as the hon. Gentleman has said, it was 1,536. I accept that that is an increase over the position a year ago, but I hope that he will also accept that, notwithstanding the recent increase, the claimant count is 290 lower than it was in the month that the Conservative Government left office. It represents a fall of 16 per cent. in his constituency. Furthermore the current claimant count represents 2.4 per cent. of his local work force. That is low by any standards and better than the United Kingdom average. He may be interested to know that the claimant count for the whole of Northamptonshire in May 1997 was 9,522; it is currently 6,886—a fall of 28 per cent.

The hon. Gentleman may also be interested in the wider historical perspective. I should point out that, for most of the 1990-97 period, unemployment in Wellingborough remained stubbornly above 2,000 and, in the depths of the 1992 recession, it was closer to 3,000. That was the second Tory recession. During the first Tory recession in his constituency, the unemployment figure was more than 3,000. I offer the hon. Gentleman all that to put the current situation in context and not in any way to minimise at all the challenge faced by his constituents who are unemployed nor to dismiss the fact that the claimant count in Wellingborough has recently risen. I regret, just as much as he does, the loss of any job by any of his constituents.

In a dynamic economy, even one such as ours which is now in a record period of sustained growth, there will be job losses. Some markets will decline, some firms will close, some will move, some will get taken over and job losses will result. The crucial questions for the hon. Gentleman's constituents and those in Kettering who may suffer job losses as a result of those trends are as follows. First, will there be another job for them to move to? Secondly, will it take them long to get that other job and, thirdly, if they need help to prepare for getting that job, is that help available? I want to look at those three questions in turn.

The first question is whether there will be another job for the hon. Gentleman's constituents to move to. The answer is yes. Last year, 4,695 of his constituents registered at some point during the year as unemployed, but 4,425 moved off the register in his constituency in the past year because they had found work. Furthermore, last year, no fewer than 6,300 job vacancies were notified to his local Jobcentre Plus. All that speaks of a dynamic local economy.

The second question his constituents need to have answered is, if they encounter unemployment, will it take them long to find the next job. The answer is that it certainly does not take as long as it used to. If we go back to December 1996, as the hon. Gentleman did, we find that, of the constituents who were then unemployed, 345 experienced unemployment for more than a year. Currently, the number of his constituents waiting more than a year to find a job is 60. He referred in his opening comments to the Labour party's commitment to eradicate long-term unemployment. As he will see in his constituency, long-term unemployment has declined dramatically. Now, more than two thirds of unemployed people in Wellingborough find a job within six months. Long-term unemployment in Wellingborough has fallen by 73 per cent. since 1997. Long-term youth unemployment has fallen by 52 per cent. Overall, there are now 4,700 more jobs in his constituency than there were in 1997.

The hon. Gentleman will recall that the third question was: is there extra help on hand for those who are seeking another job? The answer is yes. To start with, his constituents have been helped hugely by the new deal. Since it got under way, 2,130 people in Wellingborough have been helped into a job by the new deal, including 860 young people and 980 lone parents. His party opposed the new deal.

There is also additional help. Basic skills support is available right across Northamptonshire. Four regional and two local European social fund contracts are available, targeted at longer-term unemployment. Job preparation courses are available through his local Jobcentre Plus office, supported locally by Wincanton, DTS, Morrisons, Milbury Care, Shaw Health Care and Asda. Work is also being done through the Wellingborough Prosper Group. I know that the local employer engagement manager at Jobcentre Plus has written to him to supply him with further details of local schemes to assist people who are seeking work. Pathways to work is already proving very successful. It will be implemented in his area next year. As he will also know, Wellingborough is part of the Milton Keynes and south midlands growth area, which is forecast to create more than 13,000 further job opportunities by 2021.

The hon. Gentleman and I, and the hon. Member for Kettering, all want to see the claimant count in his area coming down. There is no debate whatsoever about that. For that to happen, the right macro-economic policies must be in place, which they are. We have a stable, growing economy that is creating jobs—2.5 million across the country as a whole so far—and attracting investment. Domestic business investment is strong and foreign investment in the United Kingdom is exceptionally strong. All that helps to deliver increased levels of employment. There is a labour force participation rate of 74.6 per cent., which is one of the highest in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. That situation is delivering lower levels of unemployment—it has declined in every single region of the United Kingdom. It is also delivering a plentiful supply of job vacancies: there are 600,000. Long-term unemployment is down by three quarters. Long-term youth unemployment is down by two thirds. We also require the right strategy for the future, to build on that stability. That is why we are now aiming at an 80 per cent. labour force participation rate and why welfare reform that is now being implemented will introduce the employment support allowance and the extension of the pathways to work programme.

As with all other hon. Members, including myself, the hon. Gentleman's task is to work alongside all the key stakeholders in his area to ensure that the strategy locally means that his area is well positioned to take advantage of the strong national economy. There is a key role for his regional development agency, his local Jobcentre Plus office, local authorities, employers, colleges, the Connexions services, and many others. Get all that right and he will find that he can keep a steady flow of new jobs coming into his constituency. That is necessary to absorb the fact that, unfortunately, some of his constituents will from time to time, for a variety of reasons, find that they lose their jobs. If we want to be able to deliver further growth in employment for the future on top of the 4,700 extra jobs that have already come to his constituency since 1997, the crucial thing is to continue with the economic policies that we already have in place.

Question put and agreed to.

Adjourned accordingly at one minute to Three o'clock.