§ Mr. CallaghanTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the work of the Employment Service to help the unemployed.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThe Employment Service is an executive agency reporting to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. It operates through a network of over 1,000 local offices throughout Britain.
ES operates a job-broking service, helping to fill employers' vacancies and placing unemployed people into jobs. In 1992–93, ES made 1.47 million placings of unemployed people; in this operational year up to December, it has made 1.26 million placings, 12 per cent. above its profiled target. ES aims especially to help long-term unemployed people, and others at a disadvantage in the labour market; 27 per cent. of the 1992–93 placings were of long-term claimants.
ES operates a comprehensive system of advisory interviews for unemployed clients. Around 8.5 million such interviews were carried out in 1992–93. At these interviews clients are given information about advisory, job search and training programmes which are available to help them back into work. As well as running programmes itself, ES acts as a gateway to those run by the training and enterprise councils.
ES has a particular duty to give employment help to unemployed people with a disability. To give support to its local offices in doing this, it has a network of 71 area placing assessment and counselling teams, staffed by disability employment advisers.
ES also helps unemployed people by income maintenance: by promptly and accurately paying unemployment benefit and income support to clients entitled to receive them.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to the ES chief executive to congratulate the agency on its performance in the first half of this operational year. There have been falls in unemployment at an earlier stage in the recovery than anticipated by most observers. The efforts of the ES have assisted in implementing a labour market policy fostering an environment for growth.