What steps he will take to increase the proportion of the resources available under the new deal scheme allocated to the long-term unemployed who are over 25 years old. [40033]

Last year we allocated £350 million from the windfall tax to be spent in the current financial year. On 17 March, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer allocated a further £100 million to pilot 70,000 places from November, based on the same programme as the new deal for the under-25s.

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that reply, but it is pure obfuscation. The unemployment figures show that 118,000 under-25s are unemployed compared with 216,000 elderly people who have been unemployed for over two years and 349,000 elderly people who have been unemployed for one year. However, under the new deal, about £2,600 million is being spent on the young unemployed but only £450 million over four years is being spent on the elderly. Somebody has to speak up for the elderly. It is much more difficult for them to get jobs than it is for younger people.

As someone who has reached the age of 50, I think that, by anybody's standards, it is pushing it a bit to call the over-25s elderly. What we are providing for the new deal is in addition to the money already being allocated for the Employment Service, training and enterprise and employment zone programmes, which this year will amount to £450 million. So, it is in addition to the resources being allocated for employment measures and adult training measures.

May I say that I sincerely hope that the young and middle-aged long-term unemployed in my constituency benefit directly from the decision announced today by the Taiwanese electronics firm, Foxteq, to set up a plant in Renfrew—unfortunately not in Inverclyde—which will create 560 new jobs? Locate in Scotland and the Scottish Office deserve our commendation for that. That welcome news emphasises the need to train long-term unemployed people in information technology skills. That is particularly important when those long-term unemployed people were employed hitherto in traditional industries.

I welcome that news and I agree with my hon. Friend that it is a helpful and positive step forward. In addition to the resources I mentioned a moment ago, a further £100 million has been allocated for skills support, £40 million of which was specific to information technology and the development of centres of excellence across the country. If we can put those in place, we can meet the challenge of not merely the year ahead but of the new century, when people will require new skills, new investment and a different type of work environment.

Does the Secretary of State agree that the main judgment on whether the new deal is a success is whether it reduces long-term unemployment for both the young and the old?

The new deal will be judged by the objectives we have set out, which means preparing people for the world of work, enabling them to take the jobs available and ensuring that they develop the social and educational skills to enable them to deal with a world of insecurity. The overall objective of the Department and the Government is to do exactly the reverse of what the previous Government achieved. We want to reduce the number of long-term unemployed, not to revel in it, which Conservative Members seem to do every time that we have Education and Employment questions.

My right hon. Friend and the Government are particularly concerned about providing good employment opportunities for the disabled. Will my right hon. Friend spell out what the new deal is doing to help unemployed disabled people get into good employment, not second-class jobs?

I am very pleased that we have been able to develop 12 new pilot programmes specifically for people with disabilities, from which they will be able to benefit, in addition to the new deal proposals. Disabled people are entitled to join those specific pilot programmes without undergoing a six-month wait. The programmes will enable us to discover what works best, and to build on the experience of the access to work programme. They will also ensure that work-based experience is tailored to the needs of the disabled person, and that support is available for both the employer and the employee, to ensure and secure long-term employment.

What representations he has received about operational difficulties in the administration of the jobseeker's allowance. [40034]

The Government have received a number of representations from individuals and organisations on a variety of jobseeker's allowance-related operational issues. We welcome comments from organisations, members of the public and staff.

I pay tribute to front-line staff in both the Department for Education and Employment and the Benefits Agency who administer the jobseeker's allowance. Does the Minister accept that their job is made much more difficult by the split between data processing and collection—which is the responsibility of the Department for Education and Employment—and benefit payment, which is undertaken by the Benefits Agency? Does he agree that the split is inefficient, and makes the situation more difficult for both staff and customers? Will he give the House an undertaking that he will very carefully examine the matter, and not only listen to the pointy-heads in his own policy department, but talk to the people who pay the benefit about whether one Department or the other—I am agnostic about which—takes full responsibility for the benefit?

I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's concern that the system should be as manageable as possible—above all for jobseekers, but also for the staff who serve them. I agree that the success that the staff of both the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service have made of jointly administering the JSA is a tribute to their commitment to public service. Ernst and Young has conducted an independent review and reported that, at local level, working relations between the Employment Service and the Benefits Agency are largely very good. There are procedures for the two agencies to resolve any operational difficulties that may arise locally. However, I certainly do not dismiss the hon. Gentleman's comments and will re-examine the matter afresh.

What plans he has to allow students attending English, Welsh and Northern Irish universities on approved undergraduate courses of more than three years' duration to be exempt from paying fees in the fourth year. [40035]

Under our planned funding arrangements, financial support for students' fees will be dependent on income. Full-time undergraduates who come from lower-income families in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be exempt from paying fees in the fourth year at any United Kingdom university.

I am grateful for that response. However, does the Minister agree that the Government's haste in requiring students to pay tuition fees from this year has caused a financial and bureaucratic nightmare for universities offering courses of more than three years' duration, which supply courses to 90,000 students? What justification can he give for exempting medical students in year five of a course, but not in year four, or for exempting from fees postgraduate certificate of education students who will work primarily in secondary education, but not students studying for a four-year honours degree?

No, I do not believe that it is. Moreover, the nightmare described by the hon. Gentleman has not yet been communicated to us. Not one university has told us that it is suffering from a bureaucratic nightmare. I suspect that the nightmare is entirely in the minds of Liberal Democrat Members.

As student fees have increased people's interest in university degrees, will my hon. Friend say whether there was any truth in the Financial Times article stating that the Government may change the criteria that colleges of higher education must meet to attain university status? Nene college, in my constituency, is extremely interested in getting university status and would like to know whether there has been any change in the Government's thinking on the matter.

No. It is a subject that we are looking at carefully. At present, we have no plans to change the way in which the criteria are judged and the title "university" is awarded to colleges.

In the nine months since the policy was announced last summer, has the Minister thought of a single reason of principle why students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland should be uniquely targeted to pay higher fees to Scottish universities than students from anywhere else in the European Union? Can he give me one single reason of principle to justify the Government's policy? In nine months, has the Minister been able to think of one?

Remind him about the poll tax.

I could remind the right hon. Gentleman about the poll tax, but instead I shall attempt to answer his question. As he knows, education in Scotland is very different from that in England.

Why?

I shall tell the hon. Gentleman why. If he does not know, perhaps he should try reading sometimes. Scottish students study for the equivalent of A-levels for one year in Scotland instead of for two years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We believe that Scottish universities should recognise that—many of them do—and allow students to join courses in the second year if they have the proper qualifications to do so.

What plans he has to involve employers in the development of the national child care strategy. [40036]

We very much agree that contributions from employers can make a substantial difference to the provision of child care. In two or three weeks' time we shall issue a Green Paper, which will be mirrored in Scotland, setting out the detail of our proposals, building on the announcements that have been made on expenditure over the next five years in respect of the British Isles and underpinning our commitment to a collaborative approach to providing affordable, high-quality child care in every neighbourhood in the United Kingdom.

I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. Last month, I visited a nursery in my constituency. As it is situated on the outskirts of a large industrial estate in Aberdeen, it depends for its clientele on the workers on that estate, particularly those who work for the oil companies. The people running the nursery felt that if only they could tap into the employers' good will and get some support from them, they could offer the child care that is so desperately needed by the work force at a much more affordable rate. I hope that my right hon. Friend will ensure that employers are aware that affordable child care not only benefits parents in that it allows them to return to work, but is good business as a vibrant business requires a happy work force in which employees feel that their children are being well cared for.

I agree entirely. Helping to balance family and work life contributes to our economy and the well-being of companies. The work that has been done by the Bank of Ireland, for example, has illustrated graphically the increased productivity, the retention of staff and the improvement in morale that can be achieved. I congratulate that company and public service organisations such as the Thanet healthcare NHS trust, which has made a specific effort to provide flexible, out-of-hours and daytime child care covering holidays and evenings in a way that shows great imagination and has helped to improve the quality and delivery of the service that it provides to the public.

May I welcome the Government's commitment to integrating education and child care? I welcome many of their new initiatives, such as out-of-school clubs, summer schools and improvements in the child care disregard. Does the Secretary of State agree, however, that the Government will never be considered to be a green Government just by the constant recycling of initiatives, claiming each time that they are new? In particular, does he accept that his announcement yesterday, which he claimed was a new one, of an additional £600 million, was nothing of the sort? The local education authorities already knew about the money and had already bid for it. More importantly, does he accept that the Under-Secretary of State made an identical announcement on 8 April?

I thought that Liberal Democrats welcoming all our policies was too good to be true on local election day. I am not sure whether the hon. Gentleman is for or against the £6 million. It is £6 million, not £600 million. I wish it were £600 million; I would have announced it three times rather than twice. The £500,000 specifically to save the Pre-School Learning Alliance from closures was entirely new money, extremely welcomed by it and will enable it to continue its excellent work at local level.

May I welcome my right hon. Friend's trail-blazing child care policies? Will he confirm that his departmental research shows that 90 per cent. of employers make no provision whatever for child care assistance? Are we sure that Departments and agencies are that good in this respect? Will he make certain that Departments and agencies become model employers and give a lead in policies on child care?

The analysis to which my right hon. Friend refers is correct. There is clearly a long way to go. Part of the development of the consultation on the proposed Green Paper will be in engaging all stakeholders and partners in ensuring that they make their contribution. I agree that Departments and agencies have a key role to play. From discussion with Cabinet colleagues, I know that forthcoming announcements will illustrate very positive departmental moves in just that direction.

Is the Secretary of State aware that many people who are employed in pre-school care of young children are now required to gain qualifications in order to be so employed? Very great financial burdens will be placed on pre-school groups, which can just about manage to pay for staff, if they have to fund from their own resources courses to enable staff to become qualified. Will he look at that difficulty and endeavour to grant aid for qualifications?

I am certainly very happy to look at that and to talk to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor about the costs of establishing a framework in which training is a crucial part of ensuring that resources—available through, for instance, the working families tax credit from next year—can be applied to high-quality child care, and that the £1.2 million, for example, that my Department gives to the Pre-School Learning Alliance specifically for training enables it to provide accreditation and a foothold on what is becoming known as a climbing frame of qualifications, on which those who begin as volunteers develop child care provision and facilities that allow them to progress to more formalised training.

If he will make a statement on his proposals to address the needs of care leavers for access to further and higher education. [40037]

We have set out comprehensive plans to widen participation in further and higher education, and care leavers will benefit from those, as well as from our drive to raise standards.

I thank my hon. Friend for that response. Does he agree that the fact that no more than 1 per cent. of young people who leave care go into higher education is a disgrace that should shame us all and make us determined to take action? Will he discuss with ministerial colleagues the importance of amending section 24 of the Children Act 1989 to ensure that local authorities have a duty to provide financial assistance to young people who leave care, up to their 25th birthday?

My hon. Friend raises an extremely important subject. The House should know, if it does not already, that 75 per cent. of care leavers have no academic qualifications of any kind, 50 per cent. of young people leaving care after reaching their 16th birthday are unemployed, and no less than 23 per cent. of adult prisoners and 38 per cent. of young prisoners have been in care. Those are extremely shocking figures. We need to examine urgently ways to ensure that education, employment and training are provided much more effectively.

If he will make a statement on the cost of the new deal in 1998–99. [40038]

The new deal for the young unemployed and adult long-term unemployed men and women is people-focused, so the resources will follow the individual. At the end of this year we will be aware of how many people have been eligible and how many have taken up the guaranteed places that are available—hence we will also know the exact resources that will be spent in the current financial year.

Further to the question from my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Sir P. Emery) and the reply by the Secretary of State, can the right hon. Gentleman explain the bizarre situation in which the 216,000 long-term unemployed people over the age of 25 will receive almost five times less of the new deal money in 1998–9 than the young unemployed, even though there are nearly 100,000 more of them? Does not that show that the Minister for School Standards is not the only Minister who cannot do his sums, and that the problem is endemic throughout the Department?

The statistics that the hon. Gentleman has just paraded show just how necessary our numeracy task force is for the Opposition as well. At the risk of repetition I might add that I explained in words of one syllable to his right hon. Friend exactly what the situation was. I explained that an additional £450 million was available from mainstream programmes and that it was being applied to older men and women. In the end, the only way to stop long-term adult unemployment is to stop long-term unemployment among those under 25.

When my right hon. Friend publishes the first annual report on the new deal, will he, as well as publishing the figures on this Government's new deal, set out clearly the facts and figures detailing the Tory's old deal? That old deal promised hopelessness, joblessness, the consequences of crime and much else besides. The annual report must not simply show cold statistics; it must help people to realise the changes that have occurred in real people's lives.

What a wonderful idea. I thank my hon. Friend for it.

What plans he has to increase the availability of musical instrument tuition in local education authority schools. [40039]

We recognise the important contribution which musical instrument tuition can make to every child's education. Our forthcoming consultation paper on local management of schools will set out our proposals to ensure that such tuition is funded properly.

I am most grateful for that answer, if a little puzzled by it. When, on 16 February, I asked the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport the very same question, he said that intensive discussions between the two Departments were under way to come up with specific proposals on musical instrument tuition, and that those proposals would be announced within a few weeks. I do not know how intensive the discussions are, but they are certainly protracted. Can the hon. Lady tell me when the proposals will be produced and we shall be able to restore some of the tuition that has been lost in recent years?

The hon. Gentleman is right: my right hon. Friend is indeed looking into how we can improve music tuition in schools. We are talking to him about that to develop proposals. It is for him to say when he will make an announcement to the House.

As a brass band lover, may I ask whether the Minister will include the instruments played by brass and silver bands in this particular policy? The fact is that that culture in mining and industrial areas is dying out. I hope that Ministers will encourage it to remain.

My hon. Friend is right. It is crucial to retain that sort of activity in schools. One of the great joys of visiting schools throughout the country is seeing the high standard of performance of some of the orchestras and bands there and in local authority areas. I share my hon. Friend's pleasure in listening to brass bands; they should continue; under this Government they will thrive.

Does the hon. Lady agree that, although music education provision is patchy across the country, the standard of youth music is extraordinarily high, for which teachers and pupils deserve great credit? Will she consider implementing a programme under which one school in each local authority is designated a centre of excellence for music tuition? The skills generated at such an establishment could then permeate the whole area.

I share the hon. Gentleman's pleasure in the excellent music that we hear in schools. His idea is interesting. On specialist schools, he will know that the Government are considering the development of centres of excellence, which will benefit pupils not only at the school, but at feeder and neighbouring schools, as well as in the wider community. I shall certainly reflect on his suggestion.

What plans he has to ensure teachers and head teachers have access to multimedia laptops. [40040]

In March, the Government allocated £23 million for the purchase of 9,500 multimedia portable computers for the use of head teachers and senior teachers in maintained schools. That means that about 25 per cent. of schools in England will have teachers who have received laptops from the initiative.

I thank my hon. Friend for that reply. Does he agree that effective use of information and communications technology will help to raise standards in literacy and numeracy? Can he say what the figures are for Wales?

I am pleased to say that a similar initiative is being developed by the Welsh Office. The real challenge for the Government is to ensure that we can harness the benefits of new technology to support the basics of literacy and numeracy, which is why we are developing our national literacy strategy alongside our national grid for learning, so that the two initiatives complement each other and bridges can be built between them. In doing that, we believe that we can not only give young people a grounding in the basics, but allow them to embrace new technology.

Why should it be necessary for the Secretary of State to interfere in such matters? Could not any halfway competent head sort out for himself whether he wants to spend some of his budget on a laptop computer? Is not the real problem that the Government have insisted on taking full control over budgets away from head teachers, so that busybody Ministers have constantly to nanny and to interfere, when they should properly be dealing with policy?

This is additional money that has been targeted for a specific purpose—we are confident that it will raise standards in schools. That represents a totally different approach from that adopted by the previous Government, who stood to one side and ignored the needs of children in our schools. We shall not do that. We do not accept the criticism that we are creating a nanny state; in raising standards in schools, we are going with the grain of public and parental opinion, which is why our education policies have a huge approval rating.

What steps the Government are taking to tackle skill shortages. [40041]

What steps the Government are taking to tackle skill shortages. [40042]

We have established a national skills task force, incorporating all sides of industry and commerce and large and small enterprises. It will report in a couple of months on its findings from the seminars that it has held and its work with industry across the country. We shall have at our disposal the £100 million that the Chancellor allocated on 17 March specifically to tackle the skills needs of Britain in the years to come, and we shall build on the 55 national training organisations that have been accredited in the past 12 months.

Will my right hon. Friend ensure that the task force finds sufficient skilled labour for Britain's healthy aerospace industry? Is he aware that in my constituency British Aerospace casts its net far and wide to find skilled labour, while my unemployed, unskilled constituents find it hard to find real jobs? Will he ensure that the task force gets a grip on that wretched situation?

Matching the needs of the economy with people who have the talent and the will to be part of a labour force of high earners and high added value—an economy of the 21st century to match the best in the world—is a critical element in tackling the skills shortage and ensuring that we can have sustainable growth with low inflation.

I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer and join him in welcoming the establishment of the skills task force, which will give us the prospect of a genuine national skills strategy—in sharp contrast, rhetorical flourishes aside, with the previous Government's record. Will he ensure that the task force looks to the long term and tackles the immediate problems? How will it work alongside existing agencies such as training and enterprise councils?

Agencies such as training and enterprise councils are represented and the chairman of the task force, Chris Humphries, who has great experience in the field, will from July be the head of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce. The skills task force has already identified the fact that there is considerable need for information technology skills. If Opposition Members will forgive me for saying so, the notion that equipping the nation with the information skills of the future is being a nanny state is the kind of thinking that got us into the mess that we got into in the 1980s. It ill becomes those who have the greatest experience of nannies to deny it to anyone else.

How have the skills shortages been perceived? Will there be a full, continuing audit of them?

The 55 national training organisations and the specific focus of industries working to develop a profile of their needs and to transmit it to both further education and private providers will be a crucial element in ensuring that we get it right. It is a bottom-up approach, with industry, commerce and services determining what is required, and the public services and private enterprise responding positively to those needs.

What proposals he has to review the funding of students who attend further education establishments in England but reside in Wales. [40043]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no such plans.

May I convey to my hon. Friend the concern felt in further education colleges about funding for students who come from across the border? The Royal Forest of Dean college is close to my constituency, and the principal is concerned that she is not able to advertise her courses in Monmouth. If young people are to take full advantage of the Government's commitment to lifelong learning, they need full access to information about all courses in local colleges, be they in England or in Wales.

That was off message.

Not at all; my hon. Friend is not off message. If a student from Wales wants to study in England, the English Further Education Funding Council will fund that student. It does not have a duty to do so, but it is a matter of policy that it always does. There is no prohibition on advertising by English further education colleges in Wales, especially ones that traditionally have cross-border catchment areas, as does the Royal Forest of Dean college. If my hon. Friend has evidence that the principal of that college has been denied the opportunity to advertise its attractions in and around Monmouth, I shall certainly look into the matter and write to him.

What plans he has to broaden the scope of the assessment exercises for universities for research and teaching to other fields. [40044]

Annual grants for universities and colleges approach £1 billion for research and exceed £2.5 billion for teaching. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State believes that, in the interests of accountability, the distribution of such large sums should take account of assessments of quality. The Government value other university activities and are, with the Higher Education Funding Council for England, considering ways in which these can be evaluated and supported.

Is my hon. Friend aware that many universities want to help the Government to build a knowledge-based information society that is an enterprise society in which jobs and wealth will be created into the next century? However, they feel inhibited because— although there are teaching and research assessment exercises—no matter how much work a university puts into enterprise and helping businesses internationally, nationally and locally, little credit is given to them. Many universities want an enterprise assessment exercise so that they can get credit and take part in useful partnerships.

I have a great deal of sympathy with my hon. Friend's suggestion. Universities are tremendous resources for the communities they serve. They are too often underutilised in terms of what they can provide for local businesses. I would be interested in any suggestion or scheme that encourages the link between universities and the local economy and in studying how they can have a symbiotic relationship with each other to increase competitiveness in their regions and in the universities.

The Minister will be aware that many people in higher education are worried that research and teaching will be hit next year by the Chancellor's Budget increase in employers' national insurance contributions. If the Minister really wants to help them, he could give an assurance that they will be fully compensated for higher national insurance contributions next year. Can he give that assurance?

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that we are discussing such matters with the Treasury. We will ensure that, in future, university funding does not suffer as it has over the past 18 years.

Will the Minister change one of the more ludicrous aspects of the research assessment exercises in universities? If a university manages to recruit a star lecturer or professor from another university, all research previously published at his or her old university is included in the research assessment exercise, to the credit of the new university. It is as though a football club that paid a transfer fee for a centre forward also received the goals that that centre forward had scored in the previous season, which would be ludicrous. What will the Minister do to change that absurd inheritance from the mob on the Opposition Benches?

My hon. Friend's point is valid. It is crazy that people come trailing clouds of glory that often evaporate quickly if they do not find themselves in a suitable working environment. The research assessment exercise is under review, and the issue that my hon. Friend raises will be a main focus of study.

If he will make a statement on progress with his education action zone initiative. [40045]

We have received 60 applications to become education action zones. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State expects to announce 25 successful candidates in June, of which 12 will start in September, and 13 in January 1999.

Has my hon. Friend had an opportunity to study the bid submitted by the London borough of Newham for Eastleigh school and its feeder primaries in the south-west of the borough? If so, has he noticed the high level of private sector support for that bid? We have £250,000 from East London Partnerships, an organisation wholly funded by the private sector, and substantial contributions amounting to more than £1 million in cash and kind for the first year of the programme from leading individual private sector firms including BT, Bull Information Systems, IBM, Arthur Andersen and Docklands Light Railway.

The point has been taken, but Newham is one of a number of bids that have in an exciting way motivated and enthused not only local education authorities but the private sector to become involved. I believe that it will prove to be one of the most exciting initiatives on which the Government have embarked and will provide the opportunity to target resources from the private sector, central Government and LEAs. There will be one clear objective—to raise standards in schools and areas where there is underperformance and underachievement. It is an exciting initiative and I greatly welcome the enthusiasm with which people throughout the country have responded to it.

I know that the Minister is aware that there is a bid for an education action zone in a deprived part of my constituency; I am sure that his Department will give equal consideration to it. Is he aware that heads of schools in bid areas have heard informally that his Department may use education action zones to try out the new ideas for four-term years or reduced status for head teachers? Will he give an absolute assurance that education action zones will not become laboratories for the latest fads and fashions emanating from his Department?

Education action zones will build on best practice and ensure that in areas such as Surrey, standards can be raised. The hon. Gentleman should address some of his comments to Surrey county council, which has had a 5.5 per cent. increase in its education standard spending assessment but has passed on only 3 per cent. of it to its schools. If the council was serious about raising standards in its schools it would have made a substantial contribution by passing on to its schools the money given by the Government.

Will it be possible to extend the concept of education action zones as quickly as possible to other areas of the country, as the initiative is designed to tackle the incredible levels of underachievement in many of the most difficult areas of the country? Our children deserve much better. Can my hon. Friend confirm that he will as speedily as possible implement the existing scheme and extend it as widely as possible?

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State plans 25 action zones in the coming school year. We shall want to reflect on their success, especially of the first 12, which will be established in September. We are confident that they will be successful, so we shall want to expand the programme. We shall need to take a little time to see exactly what has been successful so that we can learn from the best and ensure that we can extend the benefits of the education action zone initiative to all our schools, not just the initial 25.

Does the Minister accept that many of those who welcomed the Government's ideas for education action zones and thought that they might represent some of the first tangible evidence of what Ministers meant when they talked about that elusive concept of the third way are now increasingly concerned that the Minister's third way for schools is turning into a cul de sac? Education action zones were presented as an alternative to local education authority management of schools. Professor Barber even speculated publicly that they might lead to schools being managed by Procter and Gamble. Now that the applications are in, is it not clear that the truth is significantly different? Can the Minister confirm that every one of the 60 applications that he has received were led by the LEA? Can he explain to the House what price the third way now?

It would be inappropriate for me to give details of the 60 applications, but it is not true to say that all 60 are led by LEAs. There is a good mix of applications and the Government will be looking for strong applications. We shall not adopt a position based on dogma. We shall look at what is best and what will work in practice, putting the interests of children first. We believe that education action zones might show the way forward for the future and, by doing that, we shall ensure that we can provide the best quality education for all our children, not just a few.

What progress is being made through the new deal to assist the disabled. [40046]

Young disabled people aged 18 to 24 in receipt of jobseeker's allowance are benefiting from opportunities for early access and the personal adviser service in the new deal for unemployed young people. The first contracts for projects in the new deal for disabled people will be awarded this month.

I welcome what the Government are doing to help disabled people into employment, but I should like to voice concerns about a specific group, the mentally ill, that have been raised with me by Milton Keynes MIND, which represents and works for mentally ill people in my constituency.

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this issue. I know of the imaginative support she gives to Milton Keynes MIND and to the Milton Keynes and North Buckinghamshire disability network and of the important work done by both those organisations. She is right to say that people with mental health problems face great difficulties relating to employment and we are bringing in reforms to improve their opportunities for work and social inclusion. I mention the extension to 12 months of the period for which a person who has been on incapacity benefit can try out work without losing the right to return to the same rate of benefit if that should prove necessary; the removal of the restriction to 16 hours of the amount of voluntary work that a person on incapacity benefit may do without forfeiting that benefit; and the development under the new deal for disabled people of the role of personal advisers, who will give flexible and sensitive support to individual disabled people, including those with mental illness.

Does the Minister accept that the Government's own figures show that in this financial year £580 million is to be spent under the new deal on 118,000 young unemployed people whereas over the next four years £195 million is to be spent on 1 million people with disabilities who are unemployed? Does the Minister accept that for unemployed people with disabilities that is a poor deal compared with that for those who are young and unemployed and that the Government should try to put more money from the new deal into opportunities for people with disabilities? Will he guarantee that he will put pressure on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to ensure that any sums that are available under the new deal but are not being spent elsewhere will be spent on opportunities for people with disabilities?

The hon. Lady knows that I shall try to secure as many resources as possible to support disabled people and to give them the opportunities that they ought to have to get into work, to stay in work and to thrive in work. Her figures are somewhat speculative and she should bear it in mind that new deal for disabled people funding is in addition to a range of other programmes that already serve disabled people.

Is the Minister aware that, like other hon. Members, I have been contacted by the person who is implementing the new deal in my area asking for my ideas? I had some ideas I wished to share in respect of people with disabilities because there are well-established schemes around the country, but I was alarmed to find that, when we opened up the discussion and I asked how many people in my travel-to-work area who were registered as having a disability might be eligible, the person did not know. When I asked what arrangements could be made to help people who had transport difficulties either because of lack of mobility or their needing to be accompanied to work, I was told that that matter had not been addressed. When I asked which disability benefits — not only incapacity benefit, but which other benefits—would qualify under the scheme, again I was told that the issue had not been thought out. I hope that, when the Minister leaves the Chamber, he will put the disabled and their part in the new deal at the top of his list, because it seems clear from the conversation I had with the person responsible for implementing the new deal that they are at the bottom of the list.

The hon. Lady may have forgotten that the Government of which she was a member abolished the system of registering disabled people in their disability discrimination legislation. I am glad that she is willing to share her thinking and give her advice to the Employment Service and, in particular, to disability employment advisers in her constituency.

I find it hard to believe what Tory Members are saying about the disabled. My hon. Friend knows, as do many of my hon. Friends who were Members at the time, that three years in succession we tried to pass disability Bills but the Tory Government filibustered and stopped them. The hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Mrs. Browning) was a member of that Government. We carried one of the Bills by 200 votes to nil, and her colleague, Nicholas Scott, was dragged to the House late one Friday to filibuster and stop it being passed. There was not a squeak from the hon. Lady and all her sidekicks on the Front Bench then. They stink to high heaven and they are hypocrites.

My hon. Friend evokes some of the great struggles that we had on Friday morning after Friday morning, when the previous Government, to my great sadness, opposed and frustrated the Civil Rights (Disabled Persons) Bill for which he and I fought. At least we now have a Government who are committed unequivocally to introducing comprehensive, enforceable civil rights for disabled people.

What assistance is provided by his Department for unemployed people over the age of 50 wishing to return to work. [40047]

The Department currently provides a wide range of help for all unemployed people over 50 who wish to return to work. That help will be extended from June when the new deal for long-term unemployed people aged 25 and over is introduced.

Does the Minister agree that in addition to direct assistance to people who are over 50 and unemployed, it would be helpful if he could run a campaign that gives indirect help by persuading employers that the dependability, experience and loyalty older people often exhibit are worth at least as much to them as the qualities in which younger people often excel?

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right, and employers who are prejudiced against employing people in their 50s or older and who discriminate against them frequently do themselves a disservice. Any systematic age discrimination is unacceptable, which is why the Minister of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford, East (Mr. Smith), has been consulting on and preparing the policies that we will introduce to end such discrimination.

The job club in Maryport in my constituency, which is of great help to the over-50s, is to close tomorrow. I am not happy about that because it sends out the wrong signals in an area that has the highest unemployment in Cumbria. Can the decision, even at this late stage, be reviewed? In particular, can the impact of closure be measured so that we can assess what effect it has on the local community?

No hon. Member fights more determinedly for his constituents than my hon. Friend. I shall ask the chief executive of the Employment Service to examine the case carefully and satisfy himself that the Employment Service has made the right decision in Maryport. I do not know the detailed circumstances in my hon. Friend's constituency that may have led to that decision, but I can tell him that from June the new deal for long-term unemployed people should be of great value to his constituents.

What plans he has to develop the role of personal advisers in improving disabled people's prospects of employment. [40050]

Under the new deal for disabled people, the personal adviser service will offer an expert, individually tailored service designed to encourage and support people on incapacity benefits as they seek work and greater independence. We have announced plans to start pilot services in the autumn.

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. I am sure he agrees that disabled people should receive a sympathetic and understanding reception at whichever part of the Employment Service they first come into contact with. Will he ensure, therefore, that good practice in that respect, whether it is from the new deal, the placing assessment counselling teams, or other parts of the Employment Service, is disseminated throughout that service for the benefit of all disabled people seeking work?

I strongly welcome what my hon. Friend has said. We expect good practice that is developed in the gateway and in the whole experience of the new deals, including the new deal for disabled people, to be spread throughout the Employment Service. I know that my hon. Friend has been in discussions with Leigh Lewis, the chief executive of the Employment Service, and I am sure that he is aware of the guidance given to staff of the Employment Service that they should treat all clients with the sensitivity and dignity that they are entitled to expect.

On a point of order, Madam Speaker.

We take points of order after statements and the business question.

I beg to move amendment No. 1, in page 1, line 16, leave out 'civilian' and insert 'police service'.

With this, it will be convenient to discuss the following amendments: No. 39, in page 1, line 18, leave out 'Service' and insert 'Department'.

For ease of reference I propose to deal first with Government amendments Nos. 1, 4 and 28 to 31, then I shall deal with amendments Nos. 39 and 40, which have been tabled by the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Mr. Willis).

It is remarkable to hear the response to the amendments before the argument in support of them has been presented. Many right hon. and hon. Members want to be on their planes and trains fairly early tonight, so I shall be as brief as I can in speaking to the amendments in my name.

"To be properly effective it must be conducted as a truly collaborative effort between police and the communities they exist to serve rather than being simplistically considered as something which a provider 'delivers' to a consumer."

I welcome the Government's amendments. It is crucial that the term civilian is defined properly—especially in view of what has happened in the north of Ireland in the past and what we hope may happen there in the future.

I am sure that the hon. Member for Newry and Armagh (Mr. Mallon) has noticed that the term police force is used in the Bill. Shall we argue about mere names or shall we go to the heart of the issue: the attempt in this Bill to do away with the name of the Royal Ulster Constabulary? That is the real push behind the Bill and that is why it is before the House.

The hon. Member for North Antrim (Rev. Ian Paisley) uses the word oppose, but that is nothing new. Many people believe that that is the way he approaches any elements of progress that appear on the horizon and on which the majority are agreed. That is his democratic right, but there is nothing new in his advising that that is his function this evening.