HC Deb 23 March 2000 vol 346 cc1093-4
1. Dr. Vincent Cable (Twickenham)

If he will make a statement on the Government's proposal to assist jobseekers through the internet. [114596]

The Minister for Employment, Welfare to Work and Equal Opportunities (Ms Tessa Jowell)

As part of a major modernisation programme of the Employment Service, a national job bank will be available on the internet from autumn 2000. It will have more than 300,000 Employment Service vacancies and jobs from the private sector and other European countries. Jobseekers will be able to search for jobs on the internet at home or elsewhere, and, through a new learning and work bank internet portal, obtain information on learning, training, jobs and careers.

Dr. Cable

I welcome what, at first sight, seems to be a useful initiative. For clarification, may I ask, first, who will pay the internet access charges—will it be free to jobseekers? Secondly, what relation does the proposal have to earlier initiatives to equip all jobseekers with pagers and with special advisers? Does it supplant those services, or is it wholly additional to them?

Ms Jowell

The intention is to have 10,000 kiosks by which the learning and jobs bank can be accessed in every jobcentre across the country. We are having discussions on locating kiosks—and, therefore, access to the internet job site—in pubs, cafes, restaurants and other places where access to them will be maximised. When people use the internet site in jobcentres, the service will be available free of charge. When the service is used in the privacy of their homes, they will be liable for charges.

On the hon. Gentleman's second question about pagers and mobile telephones, it is important to understand that the jobs bank, pagers and mobile telephones are all part of a range of services being put in place to ensure that we speed the pace of communication on vacancies, and speed the process by which unemployed people get into jobs. Many of those initiatives will be delivered in the 50 new employment zones unveiled two weeks ago by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State.

Ms Rosie Winterton (Doncaster, Central)

As my right hon. Friend said, it is extremely important that access to the internet should be made as easy as possible. I hope that she will agree that that applies particularly to areas where there have long been high rates of unemployment. She mentioned various outlets where internet access could be found, but is there not also a role for schools—particularly schools that are applying for specialist technology status—in providing such access? Often, those schools are based in the community, thus allowing good access. What help and advice can she give on the role that schools can play in providing such access?

Ms Jowell

As my hon. Friend will be aware, we have a major programme of investment in information technology in schools to ensure that children, from the earliest years of their education, are able to learn and use the opportunities afforded by the internet. She also makes an important point about the need to ensure that we do not create a new faultline in our society, between the information haves and the information have-nots. That is why, later this year, we shall be launching a programme of 700 IT learning centres in some of the most deprived parts of the country, to ensure that those who are at risk of being excluded from the IT revolution have the opportunity to seize its benefits for themselves.

Mr. Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley)

May I seek some assurances from the Minister that the 10,000 booths will be spread across the country, so that rural areas also will receive their fair share of them? Will the booths have access only to the Employment Service's internet site, or will people be able to access all the private jobcentre sites that are now available?

Ms Jowell

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. Of course we intend to ensure that this innovation provides additional information and help to people living in rural communities. I can confirm that the facility that I have described will be available in jobcentres serving rural communities. New technology will also offer further benefits to people living in scattered communities. We are in discussion about ensuring that those who have access to the learning and work bank have access also to the increasing number of high-quality employment sites that have been provided by private sector providers on the internet.