§ Mr. Goldingasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many full-time jobs were split in 1983 under the job splitting scheme; how much has been spent advertising this scheme to date; what further advertising is planned; how many civil servants are engaged in the administration of the scheme; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkIn 1983, 734 full-time jobs were split under the job splitting scheme. £338,500 was spent on the initial launch advertising of the scheme in January and February, 1983 and another small-scale information campaign is to take place shortly. Nine staff are currently engaged on the administration of the scheme on a part-time basis.
Take-up to date has been disappointing, but it was always expected that the scheme would take time to build up. We shall continue to monitor progress of the experiment closely.