Jobseeker’s Allowance

Debate between Baroness Wall of New Barnet and Lord Freud

Monday 21st July 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freud]

The self-employment figures are up strongly, but I need to point out that 60% of the gain in self-employment since 2010 has been in higher-skilled, managerial and professional jobs. It is interesting, when you look at real, living wages, that recent settlements have moved above inflation. There is a lot of variation within the pay settlements, and those in finance and business services have fallen by 0.7%, whereas the figure for retail is up by 2.2% and for manufacturing by 1.8%, running with or above inflation. Some of the suffering being seen in the City is something that I suspect the party opposite would not weep too hard for.

[Baroness Wall of New Barnet (Lab)]

My Lords, can the noble Lord share with us how many of those jobs will lead to a strong career? For instance, how many lead to apprenticeships, and how many of those jobs give young people the aspirations to go on and make a career for themselves, rather than having a job for a very short time, perhaps without a permanent contract? There must be figures that show that. The importance that this and the previous Government put on apprenticeships must prevail for those permanent jobs to be gained.

[Lord Freud]

Apprenticeships are a cornerstone of this Government. Overall, we have had more than 1.1 million extra apprenticeships for youngsters since the election—a 40% increase on the equivalent period before the election, although I acknowledge that the previous Government were also pushing up the apprenticeship rate.

Unemployment: Young People

Debate between Baroness Wall of New Barnet and Lord Freud

Wednesday 24th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freud]

Yes, my Lords, my noble friend makes a most valuable point. We are expanding the New Enterprise Allowance to encourage more people—in particular young people—to start up businesses. While this includes financial aspects such as offering loans and financial support, it is the mentoring tied up with that process that helps the youngster, or indeed anyone taking part, in actually making that business a success.

[Baroness Wall of New Barnet]

The noble Lord, Lord Bates, has referred to creating jobs, and having a job is really important. But would the Minister agree that having a career that includes an apprenticeship gives those very young people a substantial opportunity to grow? In the funding that is available there are opportunities for young people to go straight into apprenticeships, which creates an income, not only for themselves, but for UK plc going forward.

[Lord Freud]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right. Apprenticeships are a vital route for youngsters to get into the workforce. We have put a lot of extra funding into apprenticeships, and the numbers are going up pretty steeply.