Economic Inequality

Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, the biggest task in reducing inequality, as the commission points out, is to get more people into work, and this Government are doing that. For example, the number of NEETs has fallen consecutively over many quarters, the number of people in work increased by 155,000 in the last quarter and the proportion of the population in work is at a record level. We on this side of the House will take no lessons from him about getting people into work and earning good money.

[Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Minister undertake to work with his colleagues to ensure that, when we are given figures for employment, they include a breakdown which tells the public how many people are earning a living wage, how many are in part-time work and how many are on zero-hours contracts? HS2 will not help my friends and colleagues from Wales. The Government keep trumpeting that the issue is getting people into employment, but tell that to people for whom getting into employment is getting into poverty.

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, of the three categories of figures that the noble Baroness referred to, those for part-time work are already available. For zero-hours, however, I think that the figures have been made available, have been challenged and are being looked at. If we want a rebalancing towards the regions, we are not going to achieve that overnight. We need long-term transformational projects, of which High Speed 2 is one. It is vitally important for the long-term well-being of the regions.