Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate she has made of the (a) unemployment and (b) youth unemployment rates in Coventry North East constituency; what assessment her Department has made of the factors that have contributed to those unemployment rates being disproportionately higher in Coventry North East than the equivalent UK rates; and what targeted action her Department is taking to reduce unemployment in Coventry North East constituency.

Estimates of (a) unemployment and (b) youth unemployment in the year to Jun 2021 based on the Annual Population Survey are published and available here. Guidance for users can be found here. No specific assessment has been made of the factors underlying unemployment in Coventry North East and the sample sizes for Coventry North East may make drawing conclusions from this data difficult.

However, we want everyone to be able to find a job, progress in work and thrive in the labour market, whoever they are and wherever they live.

Throughout the pandemic the UK Government has provided historic levels of support to the economy – a total of over £400 billion. This includes key DWP programmes such as Restart and Kickstart alongside other measures to boost work searches, skills and apprenticeships. Our support was in addition to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Furlough) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

We recognise that young people’s needs will vary depending on where they live and their own individual circumstances.

The Coventry Youth Hub, just 1 of 150 currently open, works with a range of local partners and can help people address and overcome barriers to employment. Our experienced and well-trained Work Coaches have access to tools that help them understand vacancies and skills needs. Work Coaches are prioritising face-to-face activity so we can support them into work, and a year after the first young people started, over 100,000 have now taken-up a Kickstart job. This is an incredible achievement and we have announced a run-on of Kickstart to March 2022, to further support people into jobs.