HC Deb 10 December 1996 vol 287 cc122-3W
Mr. Donohoe

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much the Employment Service agency has spent on pens carrying the slogan, "Job Centre—The Right People For The Job"; which company produced the pens; how many were produced; how they have been distributed; and what other promotional items have been produced by the agency during this period. [8042]

Mr. Forth

[holding answer 9 December 1996]: 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 Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 10 December 1996: The Secretary of State for Education and Employment has asked me to reply to your question concerning the production of and expenditure on promotional items by the Employment Service (ES). This falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of the Agency. There are no centrally produced or widely available promotional items. Each ES region, together with Wales and Scotland, has a devolved budget for local marketing activities, including promotional items. I have consulted my regional marketing managers to be able to reply to your questions. On the issue of the pens carrying the slogan `Jobcentre—The right people for the job', this was produced for use in the Ayrshire North district. Castle Sales supplied 150 pens at a cost of £555. These were distributed to employers attending an event to launch an Employer's Charter in October 1996. This Charter was the culmination of work undertaken by my people in Ayrshire North to encourage employers to use the seven local Jobcentres to meet their recruitment needs. Promotional items are used sparingly and represent a small proportion of the overall budgets for marketing and publicity purposes. Because responsibilities and budgets are devolved to local managers I am afraid it is not possible for me to identify any other offices who may also have commissioned a promotional pen similar to the Ayrshire North example. The total amount of the devolved marketing budget for 1995/96 is £2.9m. This covers all aspects of marketing Employment Service products and services to both employers and jobseekers at local level. On the issue of other promotional items, my regional marketing managers produce a range of promotional items to meet specific targeted marketing needs. These include pens, coasters, rulers, year planners, mousemats and carrier bags and are used to inform employers and jobseekers of the benefits of using Jobcentres and to encourage participation in Employment Service programmes. They are used at employer marketing events such as conferences and exhibitions in the main. I hope this is helpful.

Employees1 tenure in current job by ethnic group (Great Britain)
Spring 1992 Spring 1996
Percentage of employees with tenure of at least: Percentage of employees with tenure of at least: Average length of time in current job1
Ethnic groups 3 months 1 year 3 months 1 year Months
All ethnic groups 96 84 95 81 93
White 96 84 95 81 94
Non-white: 95 81 94 76 72
Black 96 82 95 77 76
Indian 95 82 92 69 77
Pakistani/Bangladeshi 94 77 94 76 49
Mixed/other 96 80 100 90 71
1 Not available for 1992

Source:

Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics.

Ms Church

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what was the breakdown, by ethnic group, of people who sought a permanent job but accepted a temporary job in(a) 1992 and (b) 1996; [6650]

(2) what was the breakdown, by ethnic group, of people who sought a full-time job but accepted a part-time job in (a) 1992 and (b) 1996. [6647]

Mrs. Knight

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked for him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Tim Holt to Ms Judith Church, dated 10 December 1996: The Chancellor of the Exchequer has asked me to reply as the Director of the Office for National Statistics to your recent questions (6647 and 6650) on part-time workers who could not find a full-time job and temporary employees who could not find a permanent job in 1992 and 1996, broken down by ethnic group. The available information is shown in the attached tables.

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