HC Deb 26 October 1988 vol 139 cc253-4W
Mr. Madden

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what qualifications and experience in welfare rights claimant advisers in unemployment benefit offices and jobcentres in Bradford are required to possess; how many are bi-lingual in an Asian language; what access they have to staff Asian language interpreters; and to what independent advice agencies claimants are referred.

Mr. Lee

Claimant advisers are specialist staff, trained in interviewing skills, with an extensive knowledge of the labour market and the help available to unemployed people, which they continuously update.

In particular this includes comprehensive information about benefits that can be claimed by people both in and out of work.

Although none of the claimant advisers in Bradford are bilingual in an Asian language they each have access to a member of staff in their local office on whom they can call to act as an interpreter.

The claimant advisers in Bradford refer claimants to the following independent advice agencies:

  • The Al Falah Community Centre
  • The Citizens Advice Bureau
  • The Bradford Corporation Benefit Shop
  • The Centre for Unemployment