§ 147. Mr. SumbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many job clubs have now been established; what resources have been allocated to them; and what assessment he has made as to how effective they have been to date in achieving the aims set for them.
§ Mr. LeeAt the end of May 1988 there were 1,214 job clubs open including 538 run directly by the employment service and 676 run by organisations acting as its agents.
Four hundred and eighty staff units have been allocated to the employment service to run the jobcentre job clubs and to support the agency job clubs. A sum of £22.5 million has been allocated in 1988–89 to cover the costs of the agency job club network, costs incurred by members in travelling to and from job club and marketing costs.
Between April 1987 and March 1988, 105,677 people passed through job clubs. Of these 57,080 (or 54 per cent.) went into jobs and a further 14,571 (or 14 per cent.) took up training, education, a place on the community programme or enterprise allowance schemes. These results represent a considerable achievement in helping long-term unemployed people.