That this House warmly welcomes and endorses two recent research surveys conducted by Derbyshire County Council into mineworkers unnecessarily made redundant by the closures of three of Derbyshire's last pits at Shirebrook, Bolsover and Markham and into jobcentre vacancies in Derbyshire; is shocked to discover that 32 per cent. of those made redundant were still out of work in June 1995 and that this rose to 55 per cent. for those over 45 years of age and that many of these jobs were insecure, non-unionised, deskilled and low paid; notes that the 1996 jobcentre survey indicates that there are, in reality, some 56 job seekers chasing every vacancy in Derbyshire and that many of the available vacancies are temporary or part-time, involve zero hour contracts, more than 40 hours a week, unsociable hours and low pay; further notes that the survey finds that 47 per cent. of vacancies previously covered by wages councils offered rates below recommended wage levels and that 24 per cent. offered less than the income support level for a couple with a young child; strongly believes that a decent Government would do much more to assist the creation of high-skill and well-paid jobs to create a virtuous cycle of benefits savings, increased tax takes, higher consumer demand, the elevation of self-esteem and stemming alienation, crime and drugs; and further believes that Labour's commitment to using the proceeds of a windfall tax on the excess profits of privatised utilities to create work for young unemployed people is a major contribution to this.

That this House warmly welcomes and endorses two recent research surveys conducted by Derbyshire County Council into mineworkers unnecessarily made redundant by the closures of three of Derbyshire's last pits at Shirebrook, Bolsover and Markham and into jobcentre vacancies in Derbyshire; is shocked to discover that 32 per cent. of...

That this House warmly welcomes the publication, by the University of Sheffield and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough, of a new study, Confronting Industrial Demise; the Employment and Unemployment Experiences of Miners and their Families in South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire; recognises that the survey's context is the dramatic and unprecedented dismantling of a major industry with severe implications for employment and communities in already economically deprived areas; welcomes the key conclusion of this authoritative survey that the key to successful re-employment is education; urges serious consideration of its policy recommendations for responding to major redundancies and mass unemployment, including the granting of equal status to education and training, the transformation of the current training for work scheme into an education and training for work scheme, with the same benefits, that the provision by the Further Education Funding Council of financial support for the unwaged and their dependants should also be provided by the Higher Education Funding Council, the establishment of a national fund for small grants for learning materials in support of an education and training for work scheme, collaboration between labour market adjustment services in order to improve delivery and reduce wasteful duplication and the decentralisation of these services to community level in order to focus on and be within the reach of the most acutely affected families; and welcomes the launch of this important document on 14th June in the Palace of Westminster.

That this House warmly welcomes the publication, by the University of Sheffield and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough, of a new study, Confronting Industrial Demise; the Employment and Unemployment Experiences of Miners and their Families in South Yorkshire and North East Derbyshire; recognises that the survey's context is the dramatic and unprecedented...

That this House warmly welcomes the launch of the Charter of Rights of the Unemployed, produced by the European Network of the Unemployed; notes that unemployment is the largest single cause of poverty and illness throughout Europe; strongly believes that decent social and economic structures cannot be built without concerted action to tackle the monumental waste of mass unemployment; and compliments the National Unemployed Centres Combine for the publication and distribution of the Charter in Britain.

That this House warmly welcomes the launch of the Charter of Rights of the Unemployed, produced by the European Network of the Unemployed; notes that unemployment is the largest single cause of poverty and illness throughout Europe; strongly believes that decent social and economic structures cannot be built without concerted...