§ 1. Mrs. Christine Butler (Castle Point)If he will make a statement on his plans for the new learning and work bank. [99340]
§ The Minister for Employment, Welfare to Work and Equal Opportunities (Ms Tessa Jowell)As part of a major programme to modernise the Employment Service, the learning and work bank will be launched in autumn 2000, bringing together, for the first time in one place, information about learning opportunities provided by the university of industry's "learndirect", Employment Service job vacancies and information about careers.
§ Mrs. ButlerI thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. I am excited by the prospect of a one-stop shop on a website to match jobs to those without jobs and to enable employers easily to find the right recruit. I welcome the fact that that will also be linked to upskilling information. Will my right hon. Friend tell the House about the existing experiments in certain areas so that my constituents can be encouraged by the prospect of the new scheme starting in autumn next year?
§ Ms JowellI agree with my hon. Friend that we have to seize every opportunity to use new technology to improve and modernise public services, including the use of public-private sector partnerships, to ensure that the unprecedented opportunities for work—the largest number of people in work and the largest number of vacancies for a generation—are taken up and people without jobs are linked to job vacancies.
My hon. Friend also made the important point that that project is being developed through pilots. Those who observe our proceedings would be disappointed if they did not hear the term roll out used at least once in Education and Employment questions, so, building on the experience of the 12 pilots, we will roll out the learning and work bank, with the supporting services, in autumn next year.