Office for National Statistics Labour Market Data
Debate between Lord Katz and Lord Watts
Lord Katz (Lab)
The noble Lord tempts me to cross a red line which is a little above my pay grade in talking about our trading arrangements and any future trading agreements with the European Union. However, it is clear already from what we have done with the Erasmus schemes that we take this seriously. The European Union is our closest trading partner and one of our most important trading partners. It is absolutely right that we promote good links between all participants in the UK economy and those in Europe.
Lord Watts (Lab)
My Lords, has the Minister noticed the improvement in economic performance that we have seen in the Manchester and Liverpool regions? Does that not show what a Labour Government can do with Labour regions to regenerate this country?
Jobs Market
Debate between Lord Katz and Lord Watts
Lord Watts (Lab)
Following the previous question, which set out a strategy for dealing with youth unemployment, may I remind people that it was under the free market antics that we have just heard about that the Thatcher Government decimated my constituency and many Merseyside constituencies, and left them with record levels of unemployment?
Lord Katz (Lab)
Of course, I completely agree with my noble friend; I will offer just one illustration of that. Under the last Government, long-term sickness became the most common reason why people were economically inactive for the first time. It reached a new, record high of 2.8 million people. This is a shameful record, and not something that they should be preaching to us on.
Jobs Market
Debate between Lord Katz and Lord Watts
Lord Katz (Lab)
My Lords, as part of the Get Britain Working plan, we are ensuring that there are local growth plans across the economy, because we recognise that different labour markets have different needs, and different populations in the different areas, regions and indeed nations of our country have different profiles and skills levels. We are determined to get the whole country working through a number of different ways, including reforming Jobcentre Plus and creating a new service across Great Britain, bringing together Jobcentre Plus with the National Careers Service in England so that we can move from box-ticking to job-finding.
Lord Watts (Lab)
My Lords, did not the previous Government leave us with a legacy of poverty pay and a lack of training in the workforce, meaning that we have plenty of vacancies but not the skills to fill them? Is that not a disgrace?