Ahead of the government’s Autumn Statement, Houghton and Sunderland South MP, Bridget Phillipson has called on the Chancellor to make job creation a priority after official figures show the government’s flagship Work Programme has failed to deliver on the promise of getting people back into work.

National figures show the Conservative-led government’s Work Programme has got only 2.3 per cent, or two in every hundred, applicants into jobs. (2) Across the Sunderland area the figure is even lower.

Percentage of applicants into work across Sunderland:

• Houghton and Sunderland South -; 1.9 per cent
• Sunderland Central -; 1.3 per cent
• Washington and Sunderland West -; 2.2 per cent

Commenting on the figures, Bridget Phillipson MP said:

“The government’s own figures reveal the Work Programme is comprehensively failing job seekers across Sunderland.

“In my constituency, the government’s flagship scheme is getting just 1.9 per cent of people back to work. Meanwhile, the number of young people out of work for more than 12 months has gone up by 325 per cent between October 2011 and October 2012. We are facing a crisis of long term youth unemployment and thetime has come for decisive action. George Osborne must now take the comprehensive steps Labour propose to drive down unemployment and start with a big plan to get our young people back into work.”