Stephen Timms – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2014-04-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is monitoring the progress and effect of the EU Youth Guarantee.

Esther McVey

My Department takes part in a range of discussions at the EU level on issues relating to youth unemployment.

The European Commission also continues to collect information from Member States in this respect.

We believe that action is best taken at a national level because governments are best placed to know what measures are needed to address the particular situation in their country.

This government introduced the youth contract, which is in addition to the support already on offer through the jobcentre.

Latest statistics show that we are making real progress in tackling youth unemployment. Overall, youth unemployment in the UK is lower than most EU countries; it has fallen by 127 000 since peaking in 2011 and continues to fall. The Government remains focused on addressing this issue.