Tom Blenkinsop – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Blenkinsop on 2014-05-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what underspend there has been on the Youth Contract scheme; and how any such underspend has been used.

Esther McVey

The Government has announced a number of measures to reallocate the Youth Contract underspend.

In July 2013, the Deputy Prime Minister announced that out of the £1 billion initially allocated to the Youth Contract, £50 million of underspend would be made available to City Deals to support local youth initiatives. Additionally £5m of funding was made available to the devolved administrations to support further youth schemes.

Funding of £35 million was also allocated to extend the successful New Enterprise Allowance scheme. The scheme has already helped over 40,000 people start up their own business. A further £20m was allocated for start-up loans.

Further funds were allocated to enable pilots for 18-21 year olds with low levels of skills including maths and English, and 16/17 year olds to receive help from Jobcentre Plus.