HC Deb 18 October 1995 vol 264 cc295-6W
Dr. Lynne Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what additional resources have been allocated to the Employment Service to conduct the additional work associated with the transfer of claimants from incapacity benefit to unemployment benefit. [37027]

Mr. Forth

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Dr. Lynne Jones, dated 18 October 1995: The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about what additional resources have been allocated to the Employment Service to help people leaving Incapacity Benefit (IB). We are keen to ensure that people no longer entitled to IB who make a claim for unemployment benefit (UB) and are given effective help with returning to work. We therefore provide a comprehensive package of additional help for them. That help begins with the full advisory interview given to all ex-IB clients when they make their claim for UB. This interview provides the opportunity for a full discussion of the client's job goals and of the most appropriate means for achieving them. In addition clients no longer entitled to IB are eligible for immediate entry to a number of our programmes. As a result a number of additional places on Jobplan Workshop (JPW), and Jobclub/Job Interview Guarantee (JIG) scheme are being funded, details of which are as follows.

Year Places Programme Cost £
1995 to 1996 86,000 JPW 9,630,000
70,000 Jobclub/JIG 13,230,000
1996 to 1997 66,700 JPW 7,837,000
58,000 Jobclub/JIG 11,063,000
1996 to 1998 15,400 JPW 1,900.000
14,000 Jobclub/JIG 2,683,000
Those people who are identified at an initial interview as needing specialist help are referred to Placing, Assessment and Counselling Teams, the number of additional places and costs are estimated as follows:
Year Places Cost £
1995 to 1996 40,000 11,840,000
1996 to 1997 29,000 8,787,000
1997 to 1998 15,000 3,266,000

I hope this information is helpful and assures you of our intent to provide clients who were previously claiming 1B with practical advice and information which is geared to their individual needs.

I hope this is helpful.