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ONE Pilot
3. Mr. Douglas Alexander (Paisley, South): What assessment he has made of the operation of the ONE pilot project in Paisley; and if he will make a statement. [118128]
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Dr. John Reid): Early impressions are that the Clyde Coast and Renfrew ONE pilot is an effective way of helping people into work.
Mr. Alexander: Does my right hon. Friend agree that the staff of the Employment Service and the Benefit Agency in Paisley and Johnstone are to be congratulated on that initiative? Would he concur with the view expressed by one of the personal advisers from the ONE initiative in Johnstone who told me last week that the initiative has been especially successful in assisting women returning to work in the area of the Clyde coast?
Dr. Reid: Yes, I am more than prepared to thank the staff my hon. Friend mentioned for the enormous amount of work that they have done. I know that he has given much encouragement to and taken great interest in the initiative.
The ONE scheme provides a one-stop shop for job seekers, providing practical help and advice on benefits, training, work experience, housing and child care. Claimants will have their own personal adviser to help them bring all that together and to assess their job potential. It is part of what we have been doing to assist people to find appropriate work where they want it, and it is one of the reasons why we have been able to create 60,000 new jobs in Scotland, and 800,000 in the United Kingdom as a whole. Employment in Scotland is running at about 2.3 million, the highest for something like 33 years.
Mr. Ian Bruce (South Dorset): I am sure that the Secretary of State will acknowledge that we need this excellent new initiative because new deal has totally failed to help the long-term unemployed. Has the right hon. Gentleman seen the figures that show that the long-term unemployed are going through a revolving door? They are not--
Madam Speaker: Order. Do the figures refer to Paisley, which is the specific subject of the question? If the hon. Gentleman is referring to Paisley, the House would be grateful for the figures.
Mr. Bruce: The figures for Paisley show exactly that there is a very large revolving door in Paisley.
Madam Speaker: Would the Secretary of State like to answer on the Paisley issue, please?
Dr. Reid: Thank you, Madam Speaker, for your helpful ruling. It may help the hon. Gentleman if I explain to him that Paisley is a town quite near to, but distinct from, Glasgow. Such information is usually useful for Conservative Members.
The ONE scheme in Paisley is proving very successful. Youth unemployment and long-term unemployment have fallen there, and that represents what has happened across Scotland, where 77,000 people have gone through the new deal in various capacities. Youth unemployment in Scotland has been cut by up to 69 per cent. since this Government took office. Long-term unemployment has fallen by 20 per cent.
Pensioners
4. Mr. Tony Worthington (Clydebank and Milngavie): What calculation he has made of the impact of the Budget on pensioners in Scotland. [118129]
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Dr. John Reid): Measures taken so far this Parliament mean that pensioner households will be on average £400 a year better off.
Mr. Worthington: I very much welcome all the measures that have been taken, which include free television licences for the over 75s, and the heating allowance. However, one of the major steps forward attracted the least comment. That was the proposal for a consultation paper on granting tax credits for those pensioners who have been left out so far--the ones who have worked all their lives and have small occupational pensions. Does my right hon. Friend welcome that move
by the Chancellor, which ensures that those people who have served this country well will be taken care of in the future?
Dr. Reid: Yes, I welcome that very much. As my hon. Friend points out, the most recent Budget builds step by step on what we have done for pensioners. We have increased the fuel allowance and extended the capital allowance threshold beyond which pensioners with small savings lose benefit, but we have also pledged to look at the group of pensioners who fall into the category that my hon. Friend described. They are the ones who have a little but lose a lot because they are just above the minimum income threshold for the loss of benefits.
That group of people is very important to the Government. In allocating benefits to pensioners, we have tried to make sure that we have paid adequate attention to all pensioners. The poorest have the guaranteed minimum income, and the oldest have the free television licences, but now we want to help those who have a little but who lose a lot from the benefits system as it is constructed at present.
Mr. Archy Kirkwood (Roxburgh and Berwickshire): Will the Secretary of State explain how the proposed tax credit for pensioners will work?
Dr. Reid: That is precisely what we are discussing in the consultation process.
Mr. David Marshall (Glasgow, Shettleston): My right hon. Friend will be aware that Glasgow contains many of the poorest constituencies in Scotland, but is he also aware that about 100,000 pensioners in the city will benefit to the tune of around £10 million from winter fuel payments alone? Will he consider that measure--and all the others introduced by this Labour Government to benefit pensioners--and contrast and compare it with all the hardship and misery caused to pensioner by the Tories when they were in power?
Dr. Reid: Yes, indeed. I am sure that I speak for all my colleagues when I say that senior citizens who have contributed so much to creating the wealth of this country should share in a reasonable proportion of that wealth in their old age. That is why the Government restored the free eye tests, which were so disgracefully abolished by the previous Government. It is why we introduced the guaranteed minimum pension for the poorest pensioners, the free television licence for the oldest ones, as well as providing a number of other benefits, including, of course, the £150 fuel allowance for every pensioner household every year. That is particularly beneficial, because giving that benefit in that form means that it is not taxed as it would be if it were paid out weekly. It also means that those in receipt of it are not penalised by losing benefits, as they might be in some cases if it was paid out weekly. That is another step in the Budget towards giving pensioners what they deserve and are due.
Mr. Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield): What about the abolition of the age-related married couples allowance, which takes £500 off the income of people coming into pensionable age? How does that square with the Secretary of State's comments? Will he also comment on the fact that £2 billion has been taken from pension funds, thereby
driving a coach and horses through the promises that pensioners would be encouraged to save to supplement their state pension?
Dr. Reid: As I pointed out earlier, we have to consider all the measures that have been passed during this Parliament. I have not mentioned, for instance, the savings that pensioners will make because of the introduction of the new low 10p starting rate of income tax.
A range of other measures have been introduced, one of which the hon. Gentleman has mentioned. However, on balance, as a result of the measures taken in this Parliament pensioners are, per household, an average of £400 better off. I do not claim for a minute that that is enough; I do not claim that we have done everything that we could or would wish to do for pensioners. We have done a lot, but we are well aware that we have a lot more to do.
Step by step, under this Government, pensioners, including the poorest and oldest, will continue to become better off. That is why we are now looking at those just above the income threshold that loses them benefits--those who have a little but lose a lot. We will continue to make sure that pensioners get what they deserve under this Government.
Electronic Communications Bill
5. Mrs. Rosemary McKenna (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth): What assessment he has made of the impact in Scotland of the Electronic Communications Bill. [118130]
The Minister of State, Scotland Office (Mr. Brian Wilson): The Electronic Communications Bill will further improve opportunities for development of electronic business in Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom, to which the Government are heavily committed.
Mrs. McKenna: Can the Minister say what benefits are derived by Scotland from the joint ministerial meetings on the knowledge economy? Can he tell us who takes part in those meetings and, more importantly, whether they understand the importance of public access to information technology?
Mr. Wilson: The Government recognise that an enormously important part of the economy, now and in the coming decades, is based on the e-commerce revolution. It is extremely important that there should be no barriers to that; it is important that we should benefit from everything going on throughout the United Kingdom, and it is also important that we should add Scottish dimensions to what we do. The joint group is concerned to ensure that the UK legislation is enhanced and value is added within Scotland.
We are extremely aware of the access issue. In addition to e-commerce, the university for industry will be based on the use of such technology. So everything that we can do to remove obstacles, open up opportunities and make this a real business and career option for as many people as possible will create jobs in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Mr. John Bercow (Buckingham): If the Bill is as good as it is cracked up to be, how does the hon. Gentleman
explain that--as in England and Wales, so in Scotland--the Federation of Small Businesses has been deeply critical of the enormous regulatory burden that will be imposed by that legislation?
Mr. Wilson: When I see the hon. Gentleman, I think of the phrase "dot.com".
Mr. Wilson: It was not a joke; it was to say simply that it is not unknown for the Federation of Small Businesses to be critical of legislation, whether Tory or Labour legislation. That is its job as a pressure group. Anything that allows electronic signatures to be admissible in court as evidence to prove authenticity of documents, smooths the way of e-commerce and adapts to current circumstances is good stuff when it comes to enhancing the technological revolution. Some small businesses will be in favour and others will have doubts. That has always been the way. We must communicate with them to persuade them why they should be in favour.
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