§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what impact the fundamental review of Employment Service Annual Performance Agreement will have on the Annual Performance Agreement for 2000–01. [111060]
§ Mr. BlunkettI am today announcing the outcome of a fundamental review of the Employment Service Annual Performance Agreement (APA) which was launched in May 1999. The review included a wide-ranging public consultation involving employers, voluntary, public and private sector organisations and other Government Departments.
The review has been an important staging post in the modernisation of the Employment Service. I want the ES to provide an outward looking, accessible and efficient service, using the latest generation of technology, which can meet the demands of its customers, whether they are jobseekers or employers, by working in close partnership with a wide range of public, private and voluntary sectors. I also want greater emphasis on equal opportunities.
As a result of the review, the Employment Service will have a brand new Vision and Purpose for 2000–01 which describes the key elements for modernising the service. I am also announcing a new Aim and Objectives, which can be easily understood by ES staff and will help them to focus on the service that they provide to employers in helping to fill their vacancies. I believe that these proposals, together with a new set of targets, will help ES to be an inclusive service which helps all people without work and particularly the most disadvantaged jobseekers. During the year I will be exploring alternative ways of weighting targets. I hope to announce target numbers before the end of March 2000.
Vision and Purpose
The Employment Service aims to make a major contribution to an efficient and flexible labour market and to the Government's objectives of high and stable employment and growth, equality of opportunity and social inclusion. ES works closely with 659W employers and with its private, voluntary and public sector partners to provide a quality service for all people without a job and to promote employment opportunities for all who can work. It aims to attract a diverse range of vacancies and to fill those vacancies quickly by matching the right people and skills with the right jobs. Its chief priority is to help individuals facing particular difficulty in the labour market to move from welfare and economic inactivity into sustainable employment. It does this through correct application of the JSA regime, delivery of the New Deals and the pilot ONE service, and provision of appropriate information, advice, training and support. The Agency has achieved much over the past three years. The challenge and opportunity now facing it is to sustain continuous improvement in its services to jobseekers and employers and to make those services more accessible and relevant to customer needs, through effective use of modern technology and close working with a wide range of partnersAim
To help people without jobs to find work and employers to fill their vacanciesObjective A
To help all people without jobs, and particularly those on welfare and at a disadvantage in the labour market, to find and keep work by providing appropriate information, advice, training and support and by encouraging employers to open more opportunities to themObjective B
To ensure that the rights and relevant labour market responsibilities of people on JSA and other benefits are fulfilled, while helping to combat fraud and abuse of the benefit systemObjective C
To harness new technology, the pursuit of excellence and continuous improvement to deliver effective, efficient and accessible services to all people without jobs and to employers in Jobcentres and, increasingly through other locations and means of communicationObjective D
To deliver services to all ES customers in a way which respects individual differences, helps to overcome disadvantages due to ethnicity, gender, age or disability and achieves the best possible outcome for each of themTargets (linked to Objectives A, B and C above)
A1: To help x participants in the New Deals and Employment Zones into work, directly or in partnership with others (includes all New Deals and relevant EZs)A2: To help x people with disabilities into work, directly or in partnership with others (includes all people with disabilities, including NDDP participants)A3: To help x disadvantaged jobseekers into work, directly or in partnership with others (includes A1, A2 plus other disadvantaged people in receipt of benefit)A4: To help x people from welfare into work, directly or in partnership with others (includes Al-A3, plus unemployed people claiming JSA for 0–6 months)A5: To help x jobless people into work, directly or in partnership with others (includes Al-A4, plus others without work not claiming relevant benefits)A6: Pilot target: For x per cent. of long term JSA claimants to be off benefit 13 weeks after starting a jobB: To ensure that the relevant labour market responsibilities of people on JSA are fulfilled in x per cent. of cases checkedC1: To achieve an x customer service level for jobseekersC2: To achieve an x customer service level for employersMilestone Target(s) [eg. Programme x to be introduced successfully by date y-to be specified]