§ Mr. MacleanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many extra staff have been taken on by the Employment Service to administer the new deal and at what cost; and how many of those were taken on under the new deal scheme itself. [77182]
§ Mr. Andrew Smith[holding answer 16 March 1999]Responsibility for the subject of this 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. David Maclean, dated 18 March 1999:
As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment has asked me to reply to your question about how many extra staff have been taken on by the Employment Service to administer the New Deal and at what cost; and how many of those were taken under the New Deal scheme itself. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.Currently, there are some 3,500 Personal Advisers in the Employment Service working on the New Deals for young and older unemployed people, for Lone Parents and for people with disabilities, the great majority of whom have been recruited from within the Service. In addition many other staff are involved to some degree as part of their normal jobs in the support or management of New Deal programmes. Over the past year total staffing in the Employment Service has risen from around 34,000 to 36,000 reflecting the increasing demands on the Service as a whole, having reduced from a peak of over 50,000 in 1993–94.As part of the overall increase in staffing over the past year, the Employment Service has so far recruited 289 young people through the New Deal, of whom a number are involved in New Deal support functions.I hope this is helpful.