§ Mr. LetwinTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what procedures he proposes to establish to monitor the number of persons under the age of 25 years leaving benefit and entering work; and when those procedures will be in place. [26148]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthResponsibility 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 Leigh Lewis to Mr. Oliver Letwin, dated 9 February 1998:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question relating to procedures to be established to monitor the number of persons under the age of 25 leaving benefit and entering work and when these procedures will be in place. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Employment Service Chief Executive.It may be helpful to explain that data on the reason why a claim to Jobseeker's Allowance comes to an end will continue to be collected by the Office for National Statistics. This is gathered on their statistical systems from information on the Jobseeker's Allowance Payments System and records a code categorising the reason. This process captures the number of people leaving benefit and entering work. It is possible for this information to be analysed by age and duration of claim.The Office for National Statistics will be publishing a summary table at a national level in "Labour Market Trends" in February 1998. Further information will also be available through the National Online Manpower Information System. This information can be obtained on request from the Office for National Statistics.I hope this is helpful.