Good news, to stand the saying on its head, is no news. So, in case you missed it, since Labour’s victory at the General Election:
- Over one million more people are in work: an all time high of almost 28 million;
- The number of people claiming unemployment benefit has fallen by over half a million;
- The employment rate is now above the EU average in every region;
- Unemployment (claimant count figures) for stretches of more than six months among young people has fallen by more than 70 percent: around 50,000 compared to one-third of a million under the Tories;
- Long-term unemployment has fallen by 60 percent: less than 300,000 – one million less than the peak figure under the Tories;
- Unemployment has fallen by 34 percent. This is now the lowest since February 1980 and one-third of the level under the Tories.
The world of work is changing. Around a million people in Britain are now employed in jobs based on information and communication technology. That is more than four times the number working on farms and around three times the number employed making cars, trains, boats, planes, and other forms of transport. There are now more than twice as many people working in Indian restaurants as in docks and coal mines.
These changes have almost become news stories in themselves, but the key question is how we can ensure that the opportunities of our new economy are available to everyone. That is why education is our Government’s top priority. This is why we introduced the New Deal, investing in skills and employability as we turn the welfare state into a working state. We are now close to delivering our manifesto pledge of 250,000 young people off benefit and into work during this Parliament.
We are not picking winners – but we are creating opportunities for all. We are doing this by minimising the role of the state in employment, and at the same time using it to do what the market cannot do for itself. Employers are the best judge of the specific skills their workers need and our policy is to match jobseekers to their vacancies.
Government’s role is to ensure, through the New Deal and other programmes, that people who can work have the key skills required to get a job and stay in work. Basic employability is the vital asset, including basic literacy, numeracy, IT skills, and also softer, interpersonal skills. These are increasingly recognised as a prerequisite to a lifetime in work.
Moreover, they play a crucial role in eliminating inequality by helping people get a first step on the job ladder. Basic employability gives people the get up and go, and the ability to learn how to learn, so they can move on. Basic employability is what is needed to help families where two or three generations have been unemployed, to break the cycle of deprivation and low aspiration. The fact that the UK has one of the highest employment rates in the European Union shows that our approach is working.
The Tories have nothing to offer, except to carp, criticise and pledge to scrap the New Deal which has helped thousands of unemployed people into work. The New Deal is working. It is a crucial part of the engine which is driving our progress towards sustained full employment. For the record, independent evaluation has shown that:
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Unemployment among young people would be nearly double without the New Deal;
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The NDYP has helped around 160,000 young people to leave unemployment more quickly;
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There are knock-on effects on the rest of the economy from these positive changes, including extra jobs for people outside the NDYP client group;
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As a result of the additional impact on welfare spending and tax receipts, the NDYP is close to self-financing.
Our goal is full employment. This is a strategy, not a slogan. We are on course to deliver, not by chance or good luck, but by linking economic stability and the growth that has followed, with employability programmes to deliver the opportunity to work for all those who can. This is social justice and economic efficiency in action.