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Work and Skills

We, too, welcome the opportunity to debate work and skills, but before we do so I want to welcome the Minister to his new post. We look forward to debating these issues with him. For quite how long we will be able to do so, I do not know. He will be aware that there was a major reshuffle in the Government ranks just before the summer recess. In fact, so far this year every member of the ministerial team has changed, including the Secretary of State. The right hon. Gentleman's predecessor was in place for only nine months, and his predecessor for only six months. The right hon. Gentleman might just have enough time to master the jargon and wish us ““Merry Christmas and a happy new year”” before he is on his way again. However, we look forward to debating with him in the time that is left. This is a Government debate in Government time. We note the level of participation on the Labour Benches, although we look forward to having a debate with the hon. Member for Luton, North (Kelvin Hopkins) as well as with the sole representative of the Liberal Democrats and my colleagues in the Opposition. Notwithstanding that limited participation—[Interruption.] The hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) is a latecomer to the debate, in quite what circumstances I do not know. Notwithstanding the levels of participation on the Government Benches, we understand the salience of this subject to our country today. It is certainly not lessened by last week's news on unemployment. That news makes it all the more important that we should have an effective system for helping people to get off benefits and into work and, in the case of the newly unemployed, preventing an undoubted blow becoming a longer-term tragedy. This time last week, I was in the jobcentre in Harlow, hearing first hand what is happening. Part of the picture seems to be that alongside the rise in the number of people becoming unemployed, there is a reduction in the number of job vacancies. I know that Ministers are apt to talk about the level of vacancies, but I have to tell this Minister that people are reporting fewer vacancies. That is the real experience of people looking for jobs. The Minister mentioned the situation with Bradford & Bingley and the pain that job losses can cause. In fact, several hundred of the job losses announced by Bradford & Bingley fell in my constituency, in the town of Borehamwood. I was in the jobcentre in Borehamwood a fortnight ago. My hon. Friend the Member for Weston-super-Mare (John Penrose) made a good point about helping people who have come from financial service backgrounds to find work. The Minister's response to it was also well made. We will certainly work together with the Government on that.