Project Work (Hansard, 17 July 1997)

§ Mr. Andrew Smith

[holding answer 16 July 1997]: Responsibility 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.

Letter from Leigh Lewis to Mr. Ian Pearson, dated 17 July 1997: The Secretary of State has asked me to respond to your questions about the current status of Project Work contracts in the Dudley and Sandwell Employment Service area, who is responsible for awarding the contracts, and what outputs have been achieved to date by the pilot. It may be helpful if I first give some background to the Project Work pilots. Project Work provides jobsearch help and practical work experience for very long-term unemployed people (2 years + and aged between 18 and 50), with the aim of helping them into work. 313W The pilots have two phases. Following their Restart interview, participants enter a period of structured jobsearch help, during which they are offered a series of interviews with Employment Service advisers, and are made aware of a wide range of programmes designed to help people get work. If participants remain unemployed for 3 months they are required to attend a 13-week period of work experience of benefit to the local community. The 13-week period normally involves 18 hours of work experience and 3 hours of jobsearch each week. In answer to the specific questions you asked about the pilots in Dudley and Sandwell, four contracts have been awarded to operate the work experience element; two have been awarded to the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV), one to the Black Country Employment Training Association, and one to Dudley Chamber Training. The contracts were awarded during week commencing 14 July 1997 by the Regional Resources Manager for the Employment Service West Midlands Region. Outputs to date relating to the Dudley and Sandwell Project Work pilot cover only the period of intensive jobsearch help, which began on 24 February 1997. Outputs up to and including 10 July 1997 are as follows:

Clients interviewed:

2,396

Clients leaving the register:

of whom:

179 left to go into employment
79 left to go into Training for Work
271 left as a direct result of adviser action
134 left for other reasons
118 transferred to other benefits.

In addition, 61 participants have started on Work Trials, 57 have started on Jobclub, and 62 applications have been received for the Workstart subsidy. I hope this is helpful.