§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Paymaster General if he will publish a table giving the number of people in each Department of Health and Social Security office area in Newham who have been refused entitlement to benefit (a) for failing the eligibility for work criteria, and (b) following a restart interview in the most recent period of 12 months for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeNo one can lose their benefit entitlement solely as a result of a restart interview. It has always been a requirement, under long-standing legal rules adopted by successive Governments, that claimants to unemployment benefit must ask to demonstrate that they are available for work. Decisions about entitlements in individual cases are and always have been the responsibility of independent statutory adjudicating authorities.
The number of claims disallowed on the grounds that the claimant was not available for work by the Barking and Leyton centralised adjudication offices, which cover Newham and surrounding areas, for the 12-month period up to 31 December 1986, was 1,223.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Paymaster General if he will state the number of young people on various training schemes in Newham North-West constituency, based on the most recent statistics available; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. TrippierIn the Newham local authority district, which includes the constituency of Newham, North-West, at 30 April 1987, there were 309 young people in training on YTS schemes.
I am encouraged by the success of YTS. It is now fully established as a high quality training programme offering young people valuable work experience and training and increased opportunities to obtain recognised vocational qualifications.