MPs doubt New Deal progress
Thursday, 07 Feb 2008 10:50
The New Deal is faltering, MPs say
The number of people entering work through the government's New Deal programme is levelling off or reducing, a report finds.
The Commons' public accounts committee warns today efforts to increase Britain's employment rate to 80 per cent may be struggling.
Committee chairman Edward Leigh said it would be "no easy task" to find work for 1.6 million people unemployed for long periods.
MPs called for a unified strategy between JobCentre Plus and local authorities, but opposition parties attacked the government's record so far as inflexible and failing young people.
"Rather than threatening to evict people from workless households, the government should start by getting its own house in order," Liberal Democrat work and pensions spokesperson Danny Alexander said.
Stephen Timms, minister for employment and welfare reform, pledged: "Our welfare reforms will provide greater support to help those furthest from the workplace into employment."