§ Mr. Tony LloydTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many(a) men and (b) women have participated in job plan workshops in each month since their inception;
(2) what evidence he has of positive outcomes for those who attend job plan workshops.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility for the subject of the questions has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
184WLetter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Tony Lloyd, dated 8 March 1994:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions about Jobplan workshops. You have asked about the number of men and women who have participated in Jobplan workshops since they were launched in April 1993 and what evidence there is of positive outcomes for those attending.It may be helpful if I explain that Jobplan workshops are for people who have been unemployed for a year who decline or fail to take up a job or a place on an Employment Department programme at their Restart interview. It aims to help people compete more successfully for jobs and opportunities by allowing them to review their strengths and skills, establish clear job goals. This will help them draw up a comprehensive Action Plan, which maps out the steps they need to take to get back to work.Jobplan workshops were launched in April 1993 and the figures in the table attached show the number of men and women who have taken part in the workshops in the period April 1993 to January 1994.Since April 1993, 93 per cent. of workshop completers were referred to a job or an Employment Department employment or training programme or another option to help them back to work. Research into the positive outcomes of those who attend Jobplan workshops has been commissioned but is not yet completed.I hope this is helpful.
Jobplan Workshops Number of participants 1993–94 Men Women April 1993 11,573 2,415 May 1993 16,770 3,388 June 1993 17,154 3,490 July 1993 24,614 5,330 August 1993 19,986 4,197 September 1993 18,910 4,013 October 1993 27,076 5,928 November 1993 22,523 4,653 December 1993 18,260 3,725 January 1994 22,415 4,512 Total 199,281 41,651