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Unemployment

Volume 496: debated on Wednesday 15 July 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to page 37 of Building Britain’s Future (1) what criteria will be used to designate the areas of high unemployment in which 50,000 new jobs will be provided; (284957)

(2) what level of recruitment subsidies will be provided to support access to jobs by adults who have been unemployed for six months; who will administer such subsidies; and for how long such subsidies will be paid.

Those areas we have defined as areas of high unemployment are those where the rate of claimant unemployment is at least 1.5 percentage points above the national average.

The recruitment subsidy is worth £1,000. Subsidised jobs have to be for a minimum of 16 hours a week and expected to last for at least six months. In England, the recruitment subsidy could also be combined with access to Train to Gain support, which is typically worth £1,500.

The recruitment subsidy is administered by Jobcentre Plus.