Compulsory Jobs Guarantee

We had a bankers’ bonus tax in the past, but this will be the sole purpose for the new bankers’ b...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that this guarantee is a serious step towards what has always bee...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the ambition, and of course this scheme will be an enorm...

I draw the right hon. Gentleman’s attention to the fact that in my constituency unemployment rose...

But long-term unemployment is higher in the hon. Gentleman’s constituency now than it was at the ...

The right hon. Gentleman talks about self-congratulation, but that is not what Government Members...

We were left with a legacy of a very large number of people who have been out of work for a long ...

If the right hon. Gentleman wants to be completely fair, will he take the chance now to apologise...

The number of long-term unemployed young people—those claiming for more than a year—is a lot high...

I note that Labour’s motion talks about taking benefits away from under-25s if they do not take a...

Young people want a job. That is what they are asking for and that is what we will provide under ...

May I commend to my right hon. Friend the work of Tameside’s Labour council, which has implemente...

I am glad to join my hon. Friend in congratulating Councillor Kieran Quinn and Tameside’s council...

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

I will in a moment, but I wish to make a little more progress first.

There are serious caus...

Would the right hon. Gentleman like to comment on the words of James Sproule, the chief economist...

Jobs are being created. The question is: who is going to get them? At the moment, the evidence cl...

The right hon. Gentleman is making some important points about youth unemployment, which is a big...

I shall be discussing Jobs Growth Wales. I believe the hon. Gentleman is commending it, and I agr...

My right hon. Friend rightly says that young people, in particular, have been suffering and conti...

My hon. Friend is right about that. I have spoken to a large number of people, including young pe...

My right hon. Friend is making a very powerful case. On the effects of long-term unemployment on ...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I was at an event yesterday with the Prince’s Trust where a y...

Will my right hon. Friend confirm that the jobs that we are talking about here, unlike the jobs t...

I can assure my hon. Friend that these will be jobs for at least 25 hours a week and paid at leas...

As the right hon. Gentleman is referring to the research, may I just read out what it says? It sa...

If the right hon. Gentleman looks at the previous paragraph, he will see that the evaluation said...

For all the right hon. Gentleman’s bluster, does he not accept that youth unemployment has gone d...

Youth unemployment was affected by the worldwide economic crash. What is worrying—even the hon. G...

My constituency is probably a good example of what is going on in the country, and its youth unem...

The hon. Gentleman just needs to look at the figures published in January, which show that youth ...

rose—

Let me make a little more progress, then I will gladly give way again.

Labour has a real pl...

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. Let me quote him the statistics from Ha...

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the national figures. Of course unemployment was hit hard by the wo...

rose—

I will make a little more progress and then I will gladly give way again.

The Government wo...

Given the right hon. Gentleman’s faith in the private sector in rallying to his scheme, is he not...

I can answer that very directly: 5,000 employers are taking part in the Jobs Growth Wales scheme....

Many of the jobs that my right hon. Friend is referring to would come from small and medium-sized...

I have just mentioned the FSB. My hon. Friend will know how active it has been in demanding chang...

The right hon. Gentleman is being generous in giving way. He has expounded a great deal on his be...

We will be delivering a guarantee, exactly as we did with the future jobs fund. Anyone can look b...

The right hon. Gentleman is very careful with his figures, so he will know the answer to this que...

Very few. There is the good example of Jaguar Land Rover taking on a group of young people under ...

The right hon. Gentleman is keen to talk about numbers, so let me give some from his own constitu...

Those figures, in my constituency and in his, are far too high. A great deal more needs to be don...

I am a little distressed at the rather mean-spirited response from some Government Members. Does ...

My hon. Friend is right. I have spoken to many people, including those who went through the futur...

rose—

I will not give way again.

Those measures have been opposed and rejected by Government Memb...

I say to colleagues that I will give way, but I am conscious also that, due to all the pressures ...

My right hon. Friend will be aware that general unemployment in Harlow has gone down by 50% since...

Yes, it is appalling that the councillor is unhappy about the idea that more people are getting w...

In Burnley in 2009 we were classed as a basket case—a town that was going nowhere, or going down....

May I say to my hon. Friend—I repeat, my hon. Friend—what an excellent job he has done in champio...

As the right hon. Gentleman knows—he has the evaluation in front of him—there was a net benefit t...

Youth unemployment is now lower than it was under the previous Government, and it has been fallin...

Will the Secretary of State give way?

I will give way in a moment, but I just want to spend a little more time on the future jobs fund,...

I was initially reluctant to interrupt the right hon. Gentleman while the compliments were flowin...

The hon. Gentleman, for whom I have a huge amount of time, is right about work experience, and he...

In my experience the Opposition do support work experience, and there are many examples of that. ...

But because of what we are doing with local authorities, working through the local enterprise par...

rose—

I will make a little progress before giving way again.

The issue still remains for the Oppo...

On additional funding for the unemployed—I say this as someone who was unemployed for three years...

Let me say to the hon. Gentleman that in my time before politics I was made redundant, and I know...

Will you do this today?

Hypothecated funding is a matter for the Chancellor, as the hon. Gentleman knows, but I will cert...

The Secretary of State always says of the work experience programme that about half of young peop...

It is always a pleasure to listen to the hon. Lady. She has tortuously wound her way around all t...

It seems to me that with the DWP reforms we have brought through and with the changes to the tax ...

I do agree. I also remind my hon. Friend that my hon. Friend the Member for Nuneaton (Mr Jones) s...

Opposition Members often say that all the jobs being created are zero-hours contracts, as in the ...

I can tell my hon. Friend exactly—it is 2% of people and 4% of total contracts. Moreover, this Go...

I hope that my right hon. Friend is making progress with the Leader of the Opposition in convinci...

With the Labour party, it is always a case of “Look at what I say, not what I do”, because we inv...

rose—

Order. There is a time limit on all Back-Bench speeches of five minutes. The wind-ups in this deb...

Interestingly, the very first inquiry undertaken by the Work and Pensions Committee when I took o...

I thank the Opposition for giving the House the opportunity to discuss jobs and their compulsory ...

Will the hon. Gentleman concede that the figure that he gave was not correct? In fact, unemployme...

I am not prepared to concede that. I am happy with the numbers that I have. I will go away and ch...

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is very telling that the number of part-timers who would like t...

My hon. and learned Friend is absolutely correct. There are people who enjoy working part time an...

I am chagrined to hear that the hon. Member for Selby and Ainsty (Nigel Adams) will not vote with...

It is always a pleasure to listen to the hon. Gentleman, but I think he will find that when I mad...

Madam Deputy Speaker, there are matters of greater moment before us today. The point has been mad...

It was higher in May 2010.

I hear a sedentary intervention from down the Thames valley. The figure for long-term unemploymen...

It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Ealing North (Stephen Pound), not least bec...

In all the debates on this issue, sweeping statements are made about how Labour Governments have ...

Listening to the hon. Lady is reminding me of Nicola Sturgeon’s speech. She is arguing for more b...

We say that there is a different way to tackle the budget deficit. We said that we would do it di...

Back in 2011, I had discussions with Tesco about its plans to set up a major distribution centre ...

There are a number of Labour Members who have worked in business, including me. What the hon. Gen...

Order. May I just say that interventions are going to take time from Members who are going to spe...

I thank the hon. Lady for intervening. I am delighted she has some experience of business. The sa...

I do not think we should pretend today that tackling long-term unemployment is anything other tha...

The motion states that those who do not take up the compulsory jobs guarantee would face losing t...

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. Obviously, young people who lack skills and qualific...

Is it the case that the more powers the Scottish Parliament has, the more we can do for the peopl...

That is right. The commission has shown that the opportunity for joined-up working between public...

rose—

Order. I have to reduce the time limit to four minutes. I have tried, but there is nothing else I...

With some skilful editing, I shall proceed, Mr Deputy Speaker, and it is a pleasure to proceed af...

Thank you for calling me to speak in this important debate, Mr Deputy Speaker. I have to start by...

My hon. Friend has referred to the importance of keeping young people in employment, and to the p...

Absolutely—and I think that the jobs guarantee will extend or complement the ability to do that, ...

I oppose the Opposition’s motion, but I wholeheartedly thank them for giving me an all too brief ...

rose—

Order. Unfortunately, I must bring the time limit on Back-Bench speeches down to three minutes.