Oral Answers to Questions

Bridget Phillipson Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2013 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson (Houghton and Sunderland South) (Lab)]

12. What recent assessment he has made of the effect of fiscal policy on the level of youth unemployment.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Danny Alexander)]

The UK labour market is showing some signs of recovery. Youth unemployment, excluding those in full-time education, fell over the last quarter and the number of young people claiming jobseeker’s allowance is lower now than it was in 2010. The Government are committed to supporting long-term unemployed young people, which is why we launched the Youth Contract in 2012 and why we have increased the number of apprenticeships, with over 1 million starts so far.

[Bridget Phillipson]

The Chief Secretary refers to the Youth Contract, but does he not accept the assessment of the Government’s own social mobility adviser that it is having a limited impact on the

“appallingly high levels of youth unemployment”?

[Danny Alexander]

I certainly accept that there is a great deal more that we have to do to get people off benefit and into work, but if the hon. Lady looks at the work experience programme within the Youth Contract, she will see that it is having a significant effect on the number of young people getting off benefit and into work, and at one 20th of the cost of the future jobs fund, which I think is good value for money.