As part of a range of measures to boost the chances of ethnic minority young people moving into work, the Government will be using minority ethnic experts to ensure that all young people on the New Deal are given the best possible help whatever their ethnic background, announced Employment Minister Tessa Jowell today.

Opening a new Employment Zone in Birmingham today Ms Jowell said:

"The New Deal has the most comprehensive ethnic monitoring of any employment programme - and the figures show that people from minority ethnic backgrounds do better through the New Deal than in the labour market as a whole. But they are still not doing as well as their white counterparts - young minority ethnic people are referred for more interviews than their white counterparts before they are successful in finding work, and we want more minority ethnic people to benefit from the New Deal Employment Option.

"We are using the information we have gathered to instigate a number of measures to improve New Deal still further:

* setting the Employment Service a new objective to help everyone in a way which respects individual differences, and helps to overcome barriers due to ethnicity, gender, age or disability;

* ensuring that everyone involved in delivering New Deal is aware of labour market inequality and recognises the value of cultural diversity;

* working with the Task Force’s Minority Ethnic Advisory Group to review New Deal performance in helping ethnic minority people into work;

* contracting in minority ethnic expertise to assist those areas which face additional challenges in tackling ethnic inequality;

* encouraging events like the Scarman Trust discussion group in Birmingham specifically for young black people to influence policy;

* developing a training pack for all people involved in New Deal to help increase and enhance participation.

"New Deal has been a tremendous success so far, and we are working to maintain and improve performance. In particular, we are working to ensure that young people from minority ethnic backgrounds benefit fully from the range of support on offer. So far 22,100 minority ethnic young people have found jobs, and a further 14,500 are currently participating in New Deal Options or the Gateway."

The latest Government Statistical Service figures also show that 127,100 young people have been helped with education, training or job experience:

* 69,200 Full Time Education and Training;
* 29,600 on the Voluntary Sector Option;
* 28,300 on the Environment Task Force