§ Mr. Terry FieldsTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many organisations the Employment Service contracts to run Restart courses; how many Restart courses were organised within the last year by the Employment Service and how many by other organisations; what is the average cost of a Restart course run by the Employment Service and what is the average fee paid to other organisations that run Restart courses; what is the average length of a Restart course and what is the maximum length of such a course; how many participants on Restart courses fail to complete the course; what was the total amount paid to other organisations for running Restart courses within the last year; what is the average number of participants on Restart courses; how many people have participated on Restart courses within the last year; what are the basic aims and objectives of Restart courses; and how many unemployed claimants have been unemployed for more than two years.
Mr. JacksonQuestions on operational matters in the Employment Service executive agency are the responsibility of Mike Fogden, the agency's chief executive. I have therefore referred the hon. Gentleman's questions about Restart courses to him to reply. The lastest available figures published in October 1990 show that, in the United Kingdom, 305,110 unemployed claimants have been unemployed for two years or more.