§ Mr. McLeishTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide details for each region of the number of people referred to the benefit authorities because of doubts about their eligibility which have 51W stemmed from a request by them for a lowest weekly wage or salary, before stoppages, which is considered excessive or unrealistic.
§ Mr. LeeThe information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
1986–87 Employment service region June July August September October November December January February March London and South East 8,126 18,183 21,676 14,836 29,361 31,846 25,906 35,440 42,812 31,281 South West 1,667 5,312 4,862 5,084 8,281 7,444 4,261 12,369 9,438 5,560 West Midlands 4,567 17,061 4,750 12,960 23,595 21,742 25,783 14,357 27,255 18,162 East Midlands 3,155 8,073 6,325 8,331 13,810 15,488 7,851 22,911 17,457 9,851 Yorkshire and Humberside 2,831 10,626 9,837 11,065 16,924 15,003 9,548 23,539 20,032 15,523 North West 11,364 22,752 19,176 20,498 28,149 26,573 14,199 34,968 24,105 14,807 Northern 6,177 9,810 3,298 8,763 12,985 12,411 6,730 16,228 11,099 8,597 Wales 4,446 6,536 5,031 5,722 8,925 8,273 4,197 13,690 10,952 7,508 Scotland 9,102 12,034 11,374 11,714 17,162 16,482 8,354 24,663 21,381 15,298
1987–88 Employment service region April May June July August September October November December January February March London and South East 18,715 27,506 34,765 49,733 40,793 38,726 56,187 48,806 37,538 70,415 43,861 42,463 South West 4,637 7,124 9,354 12,582 11,419 10,488 14,810 13,314 9,978 13,341 11,611 10,315 West Midlands 10,775 18,026 23,744 30,108 22,972 20,857 25,780 21,503 18,652 24,472 22,617 20,367 East Midlands 8,958 12,801 20,803 23,324 17,681 17,157 23,212 20,421 14,062 16,927 16,701 15,190 Yorkshire and Humberside 8,452 12,510 15,534 23,552 20,400 19,877 28,466 26,257 20,792 23,408 18,591 16,675 North West 12,848 22,596 29,079 39,357 30,735 27,512 39,483 32,416 24,563 33,387 30,982 29,956 Northern 6,683 11,741 13,774 18,588 14,478 14,309 19,549 14,908 11,656 14,654 13,145 12,128 Wales 5,343 8,617 11,402 15,107 10,135 10,085 13,426 12,103 9,117 12,526 11,034 11,165 Scotland 10,325 21,461 22,129 28,189 23,239 23,151 30,435 26,796 21,364 25,749 25,621 22,763
§ Mr. McLeishTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will provide details for each standard economic region of the average lowest weekly wage or salary, before stoppages, that unemployed people have said that they would be prepared to accept at restart interviews.
§ Mr. McLeishTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if, in the light of the Manpower Services Commission report No. 269/S, "An Evaluation of the Impact of Restart Follow-up Interviews on Counsellors and Clients," there are any plans to reorganise the work of restart interviewers in order to reduce the level of stress amongst staff.
§ Mr. LeeThe report did not conclude that restart counselling, of itself, was a stressful occupation but that some individuals had experienced stress.
One of the recommendations of the report was that restart counselling staff should follow up some of their clients, this improving both the quality of the programme and job satisfaction. As I announced in the White Paper "Training for Employment", follow up is being incorporated into the programme on a national basis in 1988–89.
§ Mr. McLeishTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what methods of monitoring are used to assess the level of stress amongst restart interviewers.
§ Mr. LeeIt is the responsibility of managers in the employment service to monitor the performance and well-being of their staff on a continuous basis.