MR WILLS is quick to say figures on government council grants are propaganda, and he goes on to say how wonderful the New Deal is and how well it is working.
A report issued by the Department for Work and Pensions in the first week of January showed there are twice as many under 25s on sickness benefits as on Labour's New Deal scheme. The number on benefits is over 160,000 and, of those, 93,000 have been on the benefits for over a year. Only 79,850 are on the New Deal scheme.
If you consider those figures, to claim it is a success is pure propaganda. And, of course, such people on benefits are not registered as unemployed.
Perhaps Mr Wills will tell us how much Swindon received in grants in the last three non-election years.
T REYNOLDS
Swindon
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