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Employment (Scotland)
6. Miss Anne Begg (Aberdeen, South) (Lab): If he will make a statement on the level of employment in Scotland since 1997. [158472]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Gordon Brown): Employment in Scotland has risen by 119,000 since 1997.
Miss Begg : The north of Scotland is like the rest of Scotland—there are now more people in work than ever before. However, that means that a lot of businesses cannot find people to fill jobs because there is a labour shortage. The local Jobcentre Plus in Aberdeen, which covers Grampian, Moray and Orkney and Shetland, has been doing sterling work in getting lone parents and people on incapacity benefit off benefits and into work. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that this Government will not abolish the new deals or the work that has been done on new deals to get people into work to plug that gap in the labour market—unlike the Conservative party?
Mr. Brown: My hon. Friend knows that unemployment in her constituency is now only 2 per cent., that only 33 young people are unemployed and that there are 30 long-term unemployed. It is because of
the new deal that it has been possible for people to get back into work. It is even more necessary in a highly skilled economy that the new deal operates to give people the skills that are necessary. It is sad that both the Liberal and Conservative parties want to abolish the new deal.
Mr. Russell Brown (Dumfries) (Lab): The Leader of the Opposition is in my locality today meeting pensioners. Quite clearly he will explain to them what a Conservative Government would do, but I am sure he will not explain how he would pay for it. Clearly the new deal is under threat—
Mr. Speaker: Order. The question is about unemployment, and there is too much emphasis on the Leader of the Opposition. [Hon. Members: "Ah."] I did not mean that in a bad sense.
Charities
7. John Barrett (Edinburgh, West) (LD): What assessment he has made of the impact of the proposed changes to gift aid on conservation and heritage charities. [158473]
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Paul Boateng): No definitive assessment of the impact of the proposal to remove day admissions from the gift aid scheme exists. The Inland Revenue is discussing the implementation of the proposal with the sector.
John Barrett : The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland is just one of the many charities affected by the proposals. It is acting on the advice of the Minister's Department rather than exploiting a loophole. Will the Chief Secretary urge the Chancellor to postpone any changes to gift aid regulations until after meaningful consultation with the affected charities has taken place?
Mr. Boateng: The Inland Revenue is having continuing discussions with the sector on implementation. The need to ensure that gift aid is properly focused is something that the hon. Gentleman will well understand. He will also understand that under this Government, especially in relation to the heritage and conservation charities, we have seen a 20 per cent. increase in real terms as far as museums and galleries are concerned. Support for regional museums has gone up from zero to £30 million per annum. We look forward to the announcements that will come from the shadow Chancellor who speaks for the Liberal Democrats in due course, but I wonder whether his promises will be able to match our record of actual delivery to the sector.
Mrs. Ann Cryer (Keighley) (Lab): May I refer my right hon. Friend to a letter that I forwarded to the Treasury from the Brontë Society, of which I am a member? It is the trust that cares for the Brontë Parsonage museum in Haworth in my constituency, and it is concerned about the future of gift aid. The letter I forwarded reads:
- "Price increases are likely to have the effect of reducing visitor numbers—quite contrary to the government's declared policy and in contrast to the funding of free entry to National Museums."
My hon. Friend will agree with me—I have had the pleasure of visiting the museum to which she referred—that what will best serve the museum and conservation sectors are measures to improve and increase the number of donors who have an ongoing relationship with a particular charity. That is what the Government have done, to the tune of about £2.3 billion each year, of which £506 million is associated specifically with gift aid.
No one has done more for the sector than my right hon. Friend the Chancellor. It continues to be a sector with which we have very good relations. The Inland Revenue has been engaged for many years with the sector in the campaign to promote giving. We shall continue to seek to promote giving, and the measure does nothing to detract from that achievement.
Mr. Henry Bellingham (North-West Norfolk) (Con): I do not know how much time the Minister has on his hands, but perhaps he will be less busy after the Budget. Will he come to Norfolk to see some small independent charities—for example, the Cockley Cley Iceni museum or the Muckleborough tank collection, where you can drive a 1944 Sherman tank—and hear from the independent sector how strongly it feels about the policy on admission charges?
Mr. Boateng: I do not think that I should be let loose in any tank, let alone a 1944 Sherman tank. I shall endeavour, next time I am in Norfolk, to visit at least one of the museums that the hon. Gentleman has mentioned.
Judy Mallaber (Amber Valley) (Lab): May I, too, press my right hon. Friend to use the welcome deferral of the changes to the gift aid concession to reconsider the proposal? The National Tramway museum in my constituency is a wonderful and unique museum, and one of only seven designated museums with no assured funding. The original and helpful advice of the Inland Revenue, in allowing the concession, was welcome. Will my right hon. Friend please look at this matter again to ascertain whether it is possible to continue the concession on entry fees?
Mr. Boateng: I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I know that she has written to my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary, and she will receive a reply very shortly.
Mr. Robert Key (Salisbury) (Con): May I appeal to the Chief Secretary's better nature? I happen to agree with him that, on the face of it, admission charges are not an obvious candidate for gift aid. However, it was on the advice of the Inland Revenue that so many of the independent and other charities and museums decided to go into the scheme. Will the right hon. Gentleman assure us that any scheme that he comes up with after consultation with the charities concerned will at least be phased in and that no sudden change will be made? If
that were to happen, it would lead to job losses and to a substantial loss of revenue, which would amount to several thousand pounds for a small museum.
Mr. Boateng: I hear what the hon. Gentleman says. I know how much he supports the sector, not only the institution in his constituency. My hon. Friend the Economic Secretary is considering the issue of timing. I refer the hon. Gentleman and other hon. Members who have raised the issue to something that was said by Kate Biggs, director of the Dean Heritage museum in the Forest of Dean, in a letter that she wrote to a national newspaper on 9 February:
- "I chose to wait and see how many other museums took up this scam—that's what I thought it was . . . This was always a loophole, and it was inevitable that it would be closed at some point."
Unemployment (North-West)
8. Andy Burnham (Leigh) (Lab): If he will make a statement on the rate of unemployment in the north-west. [158474]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Gordon Brown): Unemployment in the north-west has fallen by 63,000 since 1997. Over the same period, both long-term and youth unemployment have fallen by more than three quarters.
Andy Burnham : The Chancellor will agree that that excellent record on jobs in the north-west is due not just to the new deal but to the £16.5 million that the Government give to north-west businesses through regional selective assistance. Is he aware of the suggestion floated this morning on the "Today" programme that the Department of Trade and Industry should effectively be closed down and regional selective assistance stopped? Does he agree that that dangerous policy would have a huge impact on job creation in our deprived communities, and will he rule it out altogether?
Mr. Brown: It is absolutely essential not only that we have the new deal to help with the creation of jobs, but that we have regional policies in place to assist with investment in the infrastructure for science, innovation and skills. It would be disastrous if the Liberal policy of abandoning regional aid were introduced, and it would be equally disastrous if the budget of the Department of Trade and Industry, including the budget for science, were cut, as proposed by the shadow Chancellor.
Helen Jones (Warrington, North) (Lab): My right hon. Friend will know that Government economic policies have reduced unemployment in Warrington to 1.7 per cent. and given us gross average annual incomes that are higher than those for the north-west as a whole. However, that disguises inequalities in the borough, and many of my constituents are still in fairly low-paid
employment. Will my right hon. Friend outline which policies he will pursue to ensure that we attract more high-tech, well-paid jobs to the north-west, and will he discuss with his hon. Friends in the DTI the value of the Omega employment site in my constituency—the largest industrial development site in the north-west—and how we can best pursue policies to develop it for the benefit not just of Warrington but of adjoining constituencies?
Mr. Brown: I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I have had a number of meetings with representative organisations in the north-west and elsewhere about regional policy and what more we can do to help science and innovation. In the north-west, the Science and Industry Council, chaired by Sir Tom McKillop, is working to attract new science-based industry to the area. We will continue to support those policies, but it is necessary to fund the new deal as well as regional and science policies. It is a pity that Opposition parties oppose that.
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