HC Deb 30 January 1984 vol 53 cc25-6W
Mr. Hunter

asked the Secretary of State for Employment, further to his answer of 17 January, Official Report, columns 158–9, what are the criteria for deciding whether an unemployed job-seeker is eligible to receive assistance in meeting the cost of attending interviews for the jobs that are beyond daily travelling distance from his or her home.

Mr. Peter Morrison

The basic rules for deciding whether an unemployed jobseeker is eligible to receive assistance under the job search scheme are as follows:

  1. (1) The application for assistance must be made in advance.
  2. (2) The applicant must be unemployed.
  3. (3) If the applicant has successfully completed a course of higher education the interview must have been offered more than 6 months after the course finished.
  4. (4) The applicant must be resident in Great Britain.
  5. (5) The applicant must have no reasonable prospects of employment in his or her home area.
  6. (6) The applicant must not already have had assistance under the Job Search Scheme for a previous interview for the same job.
  7. (7) The applicant's spouse, if there is one, must not already work or have the offer of work in the area of the new job for which the applicant is being interviewed or have other commitments there.
  8. (8) The job in the new area and the interview must both be beyond daily travelling distance of the applicant's home.
  9. (9) The job and the interview must both be in Great Britain.
  10. (10) The applicant must have a good chance of getting the job.
  11. (11) The job must:
    1. (a) involve employment of 21 hours or more a week;
    2. (b) be a specific job in a specified place;
    3. (c) not be temporary employment sponsored by the Manpower Services Commission under its special programmes.
  12. (12) The job must be expected to last for more than one year.
  13. (13) The expected pay for the job must not exceed a pay limit, currently set at £10,962 a year (£210 a week).
  14. (14) The employer must have tried and failed to attract suitable local unemployed people for the job for which the JSS applicant is being interviewed.
  15. (15) The employer has been invited to pay or reimburse fares for the interview and has refused.

Mr. Hunter

asked the Secretary of State for Employment, further to his answer of 16 January, Official Report, c. 158–9, what are the criteria for deciding the cash amount of assistance provided to an unemployed job-seeker to meet the cost of attending interviews for jobs that are beyond daily travelling distance from his or her home.

Mr. Peter Morrison

The following assistance is provided:

  1. (a) The reimbursement of the actual cost of travel by public transport or the cost of travel by private transport at a set mileage rate. The current rate is 6.4p per mile.
  2. (b) If necessary, overnight subsistence for one or two nights. The allowance for this is currently £25.95 per night.

Mr. Hunter

asked the Secretary of State for Employment, further to his answer of 16 January, Official Report, c. 158–9, what are the criteria for deciding whether a job or an interview for a job is beyond daily travelling distance from the home of an unemployed job-seeker.

Mr. Peter Morrison

Normal daily travelling distance is assessed by jobcentre staff according to the travel to work patterns of other workers in the area, public transport facilities in relation to hours of working and the applicant's own previous travel to work pattern.

Mr. Hunter

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what provision is made by his Department to provide assistance to unemployed job-seekers in meeting the cost of attending interviews for jobs that are within daily travelling distance of his or her home.

Mr. Peter Morrison

There is no provision through my Department for assistance to unemployed job-seekers in meeting the costs of attending interviews within daily travelling distance of their homes.