Jobs and Social Security

Priti Patel Excerpts

Wednesday 28th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Priti Patel (Witham) (Con)]

I welcome this debate, as it gives us an opportunity to highlight the positive steps that the Government have taken to get people off benefits and back into work. It is extraordinary that the Opposition should want to hold this debate given that many of the problems that the Government face in tackling unemployment are due to the Labour party’s failings when it was last in power. Labour left a legacy of more than 3 million workless families, with youth unemployment of about 1 million—the figure rose by about 40% from 2004—and that was when the economy was growing. Millions of people had never worked as Labour confined people to the scrapheap and kept people on disability and incapacity benefits even though they were capable of working. Labour also imposed heavy tax and regulatory burdens on businesses, which stopped them employing people and creating jobs.

I am sure that we all remember the following remarkable statement by the previous Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Mr Brown). Once upon a time, he spoke about British jobs for British workers, but his policies—especially on open-door immigration in respect of eastern Europe and accession states—effectively left a generation of young people struggling to compete with their international competitors in our domestic labour market. That policy denied hundreds of thousands—if not millions—of British people jobs.

Labour also left that generation of young people struggling to compete with their international competitors because our school standards fell. In 2000, England was ranked 8th in the world for maths, 7th for literacy and 4th for science. By the time Labour left office, we had dropped down the international league tables to 24th for maths, 17th for reading and 14th for science. Education is very important for young people’s job prospects and this country’s ability to attract inward foreign investment and compete for jobs internationally, and Labour’s neglect of education has left Britain far behind in the global race for jobs, investment and growth. The current Government are trying to turn that around.

I applaud the Secretary of State for his commitment to changing the culture in this country. Ministers are putting an end to the “something for nothing” culture that blights our economy and saps our hunger to compete in the global race. It also undermines many of our communities and does so much to damage aspiration—the concept of social mobility and moving onwards and upwards in life. Over time, reforms to education and welfare will improve the prospects for young people who are currently trapped in challenging situations.

My constituency has some areas of substantial deprivation and poverty, yet youth unemployment has fallen by 6.6% in the last year—and it would be nice to hear a few positive words of congratulation from Opposition Members on such achievements. We should do whatever we can to support our young people to get into employment and to enhance their skills, and we should create opportunities for them not only in the labour market, but through apprenticeships and other innovative schemes with small businesses.

Many young people in my constituency are securing apprenticeship places, and the Government should be congratulated on doubling the number of adult apprenticeships to about 650,000 this year, from a figure of 300,000 inherited from the previous Government. If we include apprenticeships for 16 to 18-year-olds, there will be close to 900,000 apprentices in this country this year. Apprenticeships help people to learn new skills, to get a foothold in the labour market and to increase their confidence by having work experience.

Unemployment is, of course, still too high. No one likes the fact that it is high, but we should remember that the Government are also reducing the number of economically inactive people, by helping to get those who were left on the scrapheap by Labour into meaningful employment. Even in these challenging economic times, Britain is expanding its work force and businesses in my constituency are eager to grow and create more jobs, and they are doing so.

About 83% of jobs in my constituency are based in small and medium-sized enterprises—a figure considerably higher than the national average. Those firms are local wealth creators, and they will do their utmost to support local jobs. Many of them are opening their doors to young people, again giving them the opportunity to get off benefits, get work experience and increase their skills. That is why it is so important that the Government continue to focus on getting rid of business regulation, so that small businesses have a greater opportunity to invest and grow.

Unlike the Labour party, which tried to force small businesses to pay for the deficit by increasing all sorts of taxes and regulatory burdens on them, this Government understand small businesses and know exactly what needs to be done to cut red tape costs, which are still about £17 billion a year. That is equivalent to the cost of Crossrail or almost two Olympic games; it is 11 times the apprenticeships budget.

I urge the Government to continue with all the positive work that they are doing. I know that Ministers value the private sector and the role that it plays in supporting employment and will do more in the months ahead to support the sector. I welcome the steps that the Government are taking to create jobs and enable our young people and unemployed to move onwards, off benefits and back into work. The employment prospects of my constituents are far greater and higher now than they would have been under a Labour Government.