Oral Answers to Questions

Tony Baldry Excerpts

Wednesday 11th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

As the Chancellor announced at the time, what is out of the benefit cap is the basic state pension. I think that is important. On all other welfare spending, we need to ensure that we are distributing properly the different sorts of welfare.

[Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

Q11. Three hundred and thirty new jobs were created in my constituency in the past three months alone and I expect many more to be created over the next few months, particularly as housing and construction projects accelerate. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is important that young people are not left behind and that abolishing the jobs tax on young people aged under 21 shows that the Government are serious about tackling youth unemployment?

[The Prime Minister]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for what he says. As the economy recovers, it is vital that it is a recovery for all—that it is a recovery for north and south, for young and old. There is always a danger in an economy that young people who are not in the work force will be locked out of it, and that is why the change that the Chancellor announced about abolishing the jobs tax on those young people to make it cheaper for employers to take them on can have a real impact on ensuring that young people participate in our growing economy.