Skip to main content

New Deal

Volume 503: debated on Wednesday 13 January 2010

7. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the operation in Scotland of the payment for results system for the New Deal. (309555)

New deal training organisations face the prospect of their income plummeting because they only receive full payment when their clients find a job. In the current climate, when it is harder to find jobs, their income has already plummeted, threatening the services offered. Will the Minister investigate the implementation of the flexibility that the Department for Work and Pensions promised, because in the current climate it is simply not working?

I am happy to take up any particular concerns that the hon. Gentleman may wish to bring to my attention, but I can assure him that we are keeping the flexible new deal under review. The whole point of it is to move people into sustainable, long-term and permanent employment, which is why we think that it is important that a payment-by-results scheme is appropriate.