§ Mr. BarnesTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what levels of part-time earnings make job seekers ineligible for consideration under the job interview guarantee scheme; and what plans he has to change the current arrangements.
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§ Miss Widdecombe[holding answer 31 October 1994]: The basic eligibility condition for the job interview guarantee scheme is that a job seeker must be unemployed for at least 26 weeks, and be in receipt of benefit. The level of part-time earnings in respect of unemployment benefit, and the number of hours worked in respect of income support, can affect a job seeker's entitlement to benefit. This would also affect his eligibility for JIG in the following circumstances:
- a client loses entitlement to UB for a day he works and earns more than £2.00, or for a week where he earns more than £57 in that week.
- a client loses entitlement to IS for a week in which he works for more than 16 hours.
There are no plans to change the programme eligibility for JIG or, in the short term, benefit entitlement conditions. There are, however, proposals to change benefit rules from April 1996. Information about the jobseeker's allowance was announced to Parliament on 24 October.