Oral Answers to Questions

Ranil Jayawardena Excerpts

Monday 18th March 2019 Commons Chamber

[Amber Rudd]

I am very mindful of what we are delivering on the ground to individual constituents, families and children. We attempt, we hope, to protect the vulnerable and help people into work, but I know that my Department has a part to play in reducing poverty, and I am focused on that.

[Mr Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire) (Con)]

7. What recent assessment her Department has made of the number of people in work in Hampshire.

[The Minister for Employment (Alok Sharma)]

There are more people in work across our country than ever before, wages are growing at the joint-fastest rate in a decade, and Office for National Statistics data estimates that in the year to September 2018 there were 938,400 people in work in the great county of Hampshire.

[Mr Jayawardena]

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. That is great news, but what more will the Government do to help people who find themselves out of work into new jobs?

[Alok Sharma]

Under universal credit, as we have noted before, work coaches provide that vital one-to-one support and advice to help people into work. The disincentives of the legacy system are gone, and the reforms are working. In my hon. Friend’s constituency of North East Hampshire, the number of claimants is down by 42% over the past five years.