§ Mr. Simeonsasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether the changes in his Department's transfer scheme introduced on 1st April 1972 succeeded in increasing the number of workers moving to employment away from home; and whether he will give details of the further changes recently announced by his Department.
§ Mr. Maurice MacmillanIn the first year following the changes 18,500 workers took advantage of the schemes' facilities, more than double the 8,500 in the previous year.
As a further aid to mobility I have introduced from 12th September 1973 a new job search facility under the Employment Transfer Scheme and have, from the same date, increased some of the grants and allowances payable under the Department's transfer schemes.
Under the job search facility fares and a special lodging allowance are paid to unemployed workers from the assisted areas to enable them to spend about a fortnight looking for work in areas where the employment prospects are better than in their home areas. This enables them to compete for jobs on equal terms with local labour in these areas.
301WDetails of the increased grants and allowances are as follows:
Raised from To £ £ Settling-in grant 6.00 7.00 Weekly rate of lodging allowances 6.58 7.00 Maximum weekly rate of continuing liability allowance Legal expenses grant: £ £ (a) for house sale or purchase 145 170 (b) for house sale and purchase 240 285 In addition, the salary limit above which assistance is not available under the scheme has been raised from £2,650 a year to £3,100 and the condition that an applicant for assistance under the Scheme should "be domiciled in Great Britain" has been changed to "have resided in Great Britain for a continuous period of not less than three months immediately prior to taking up the new job ".