Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Gerry Sutcliffe and Esther McVey(9 years, 11 months ago)
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Esther McVey
I congratulate my hon. Friend, because that is his fourth jobs fair, with over 400 jobs and 50 apprenticeships available. I understand why it is so important to him, because he left school at 17, got a job and was made redundant, so he set up his own business, on £20 a week with a Government enterprise scheme, and built the company up so much that he then sold it to a plc. That is why he wants to help more and more people into jobs and to set up businesses. Jobcentre Plus can offer practical support to publicise jobs fairs, help with getting in touch with claimants and, where possible, and on a case-by-case basis, there might also be financial support.
Mr Gerry Sutcliffe (Bradford South) (Lab)
Is the Minister not concerned about the number of people working full-time on zero-hours contracts, and does she know how many such people there are?
Esther McVey
Those people on zero-hours contracts comprise 2% of all workers, and I remind the hon. Gentleman that the UK Statistics Authority called the Opposition to account for inflating the number of people on zero-hours contracts. What I can tell him is that the vast majority of jobs are full-time and permanent. That is what we should be celebrating now, with nearly 2 million more people in work since the general election.
Remploy
Debate between Gerry Sutcliffe and Esther McVey(11 years, 11 months ago)
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Esther McVey
The hon. Lady is quite right; as I mentioned in my statement, it has been a low start, but the numbers are increasing daily and we are doing as much as we possibly can. When I was given the choice whether to announce to the work force what was happening now, or to do so later, I believed that it was necessary that everybody had as much notice as possible. This is the start of a consultation period of 90 days, followed by a further consultation for a month. It is right and fair that everybody knows what is happening and that is why I took the actions that I did.
Mr Gerry Sutcliffe (Bradford South) (Lab)
Before I became an MP I used to represent Remploy workers, and I saw the special nature of Remploy factories. We lost our factory in Bradford. The hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) tried to oppose that closure, as I did, and 90% of the people who were there are not in employment. If this is about consultation, as the Minister says, will she ensure, as she tracks these people, that if they do not get employment, the closure process will be stopped until a successful scheme is in place?
Esther McVey
The hon. Gentleman makes a fine point: when the factories were closed in 2008, no plans, process, tracking or special consideration were given to the workers. That is now changing. We are obviously starting from a stop-start position, because we did not have this in place previously. As each day goes by, the process becomes better and more people are in work.