To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consultation was undertaken by his Department before it stopped youth contract wage incentives.

The economy is recovering. The UK has witnessed the biggest annual drop in youth unemployment since records began and the youth claimant count has fallen for each of the past 32 months. In addition, compared to a year ago, there are 136,200 fewer young people on JSA. Added to that, the average number of vacancies available at any one time has increased by 119,000 on the year, to reach over 650,000.

Therefore, after careful consideration, at a meeting of the Growth and Enterprise Committee, we agreed to keep the same financial support and reallocate funds to focus on the hardest to help youth groups who are still finding it difficult to take up vacancies. This includes providing additional Jobcentre Plus support for those who are not in education, employment or training (NEETS) in areas of high youth unemployment and areas with the highest concentration of young claimants from Black and Ethnic Minority Groups.