Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of economic inactivity in Teesside.

The Office for National Statistics estimate that 110 thousand working-age people in Tees Valley are economically inactive. This is similar to the pre-pandemic level. This government has ambitious plans to devolve more power to local areas to help more people get into work.