Oral Answers to Questions

Jerome Mayhew Excerpts

Monday 9th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[John Cooper (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)]

3. What assessment he has made of trends in the level of unemployment.

[Jerome Mayhew (Broadland and Fakenham) (Con)]

7. What assessment he has made of trends in the level of unemployment.

--- Later in debate ---

[Pat McFadden]

The hon. Member will be aware of the national insurance tax break under which no employer national insurance contributions are payable for workers under 21, unless they earn more than £50,000, which not too many workers under the age of 21 do.

[Jerome Mayhew]

The Minister answered a question about unemployment by giving data about employment, so let us focus on unemployment numbers. By how much has general unemployment increased since July 2024?

[Pat McFadden]

I did talk about unemployment. As I said, the unemployment figures are lower, on average, than when the hon. Gentleman’s party was in power. We are, of course, doing everything we can to help people into work, which is why I referred to the measures that we are taking, including the youth guarantee and increased apprenticeship starts. That is a much more active approach than the one carried out by the previous Government, who saw rising numbers of young people not in education, employment or training but did precisely nothing about it.