The Constituency of Durham North West

Now I am no Tory for example...

Cut tax = cut spending = increase in spending from savings

To me is like

Cut pay = cut speanding = means I can buy savers bean rather than Heinz Beans.

I don't mind paying for "stuff" but anyway needed to highlight my non-Tory-ness first.

I got this excelent response to my earlier question on jobs emailed to all 3 candidates (Sorry Watts you missed out as I didn't have your email address at the time...you can email me a response if you like)

As I thought Hilary banged on about the New Deal in her reply.

Jamie does an excelent job of tearing that apart, this is long but if you want an view from the otherside give it a read.

Labour often claim that falling unemployment is a result of their policies but unemployment has been declining since 1993 and has very little to do with Labour - it is a result of the golden economic legacy they inherited from the Conservatives. In fact, since Labour introduced their much vaunted New Deal programmes in 1998, the rate of fall in unemployment has actually slowed.

Worse than this, what Labour are not so vocal about is the 1 million manufacturing jobs that have been lost since 1997, the 1 million people parked on incapacity benefit who want to work, the 1 million young people who are not in education or a job and the 2 million people who are classed as "economically inactive" who want to work but do not appear in the unemployment figures. What has Labour's welfare to work programmes done for these people?

The New Deal is one of the biggest red-herrings of Tony Blair's premiership. Its flagship programme, the New Deal for Young People (NDYP), has failed hundreds of thousands of young people looking for work. Since 1998, 1.1 million young people have been put through the programme, but only 37% have moved into sustained and unsubsidised jobs - and a sustained job is only defined as one lasting for more than 13 weeks. Nearly one third leave the programme for "unknown destinations" and the remainder return to Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) or move onto other benefits.

The New Deal 25 Plus (ND25+) was introduced in 1998 and is a voluntary programme for unemployed people who had been claiming JSA for more than 2 years. In the first 3 years, more than 350,000 left the programme but only 17% found a sustained job. An enhanced programme came in which included mandatory participation, but the performance is still dismal. Over 665,000 people have now left the ND25+ 'enhanced' programme, but only 23% have gained sustained jobs. (NDYP and ND25+ Statistical Summary, December 2004).

The New Deal for Lone Parents (NDLP) is open to all non-working lone parents and was introduced in October 1998. Given that NDLP participation is voluntary, those on the programme are a self-selecting group of some of the most willing to work lone parents. You would therefore expect the results to be impressive. However, the Government's own figures show that only 51% of people leaving the programme have so far left income support for any form of employment - the rest end up back on benefits.

Labour's New Deal has failed to help people get sustained jobs where they can build a career and save for the future. One of the architects of the New Deal, John Denham (former Home Office Minister), is now a fierce critic. In a recent speech to the Fabian society he said: "New Labour's big blind spot may be that plenty of jobs do not mean plenty of opportunities. The demonstrable lack of progress on social mobility remains a scar on the Labour Government." (May 2004)

Help needs to be concentrated on those who need it, rather than those who are likely to find work through their own efforts or general JSA rules. The large number of people facing serious barriers to employment, including the 2 million "economically inactive" people who want to work, deserve a scheme that really gives them the direct help they need. The Conservative Party will deliver radical welfare reform by allowing providers from the commercial and not-for-profit sectors to deliver specialist welfare-to-work schemes that help people into real jobs that last. We will replace the New Deal with two key welfare programmes.

"Work First" will offer a fast-track into work for long-term unemployed people. Jobseekers would be referred to independent contractors who would provide job-matching services in return for fees paid to them by government. Contractors could use the fees to provide the help they feel is best for jobseekers, not the help ministers think is best. For example, personal advisors would have the discretion to provide resources for a new suit or a short vocational training course.

"Opportunity First" will help sick and disabled people on incapacity benefit back to work. This scheme will allow specialist voluntary and commercial organisations to help sick and disabled people on incapacity benefit get back to work. For the first time, fees paid to contractors would include additional funds for medical and vocational rehabilitation for claimants. Again, financial incentives will be available for placements into sustainable jobs.