§ Mr. DawsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) if he will undertake a
406Wreview of the contract awarded by the Employment Service for Adult Training for 1 April; and if he will make a statement; [155019]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of chamber of commerce-run training programmes which are likely to close after the takeover of contracting arrangements by the Employment Service. [155020]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 22 March 2001]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 Mark Neale to Mr. Hilton Dawson, dated 22 March 2001
As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked Leigh Lewis to reply to your questions about the contracts which we are awarding for adult training from April 2001 and the number of Chamber of Commerce training programmes which are likely to close after the take-over by the Employment Service of contracting arrangements for the Government's Work Based Learning for Adults (WBLA) programme. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to Mr. Lewis as Chief Executive of the Agency. I am replying on Mr. Lewis' behalf.
It may help if I explain that the White Paper "Learning to Succeed" announced that responsibility for the Government's WBLA programme would transfer to the Employment Service from Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) with effect from April 2001. At the same time the Government has also taken the opportunity to redesign WBLA, in order to better align the training it provides with the needs of employers in each local area. The objective is of course to increase the programme's effectiveness in helping unemployed people to improve their employability and to secure jobs.
To deliver the best possible training provision of local relevance, the Employment Service ran a full scale competitive tendering round for contracts to deliver WBLA. At the same time, in order to ensure continuity of training for all those unemployed people who are participating in WBLA at the point of its transfer to the Employment Service in April, we have offered all existing providers contracts to support the completion of those courses.
Clearly, any competitive tendering round will result in winners and losers. I am aware of instances where organisations currently involved in the delivery of WBLA training programmes have not been successful in winning new contracts. I am however confident that, where this has happened, there are sound reasons for it. We have evaluated tenders submitted by organisations wishing to contract for WBLA using clear national criteria which are intended to ensure that successful tenderers are those organisations which can demonstrate the highest quality and who can offer our clients the best opportunities for progression into employment.
407WIn regard to the Chamber of Commerce training programmes, we are currently in the process of notifying those bidders who have succeeded in winning contracts and offering those who have not the opportunity to seek feedback on the reasons why other organisations have been selected ahead of them.
We do not as yet have a full picture of all the outcomes of the contracting round. That said, we are aware that Chambers of Commerce, like other organisations with a national presence, will have been successful in some areas of the country and unsuccessful in others. Where Chambers have not succeeded in winning contracts for the areas in which they currently deliver WBLA, they will have been offered contracts which enable them to complete training courses for those people who are participating in WBLA on 26 March 2001.
We appreciate that it will be disappointing for those organisations who have not won contracts. As an accountable organisation we will always respond fully and fairly when such organisations write to us to state their case. As I have said, I am confident that the contracting process has been properly conducted, but we would re-examine any individual case raised by an unsuccessful organisation. If we were not satisfied both that the contracting process had been fairly conducted and that the outcomes were reasonable in all the circumstances, we would take appropriate action.
I should however make clear that the Employment Service's approach is intended to ensure that those organisations who do succeed in winning contracts are those best placed to deliver the highest quality service for our clients and maximise their changes of finding work.
I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. DawsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to ensure that adequate provision is made for adult training in Lancaster after 1 April. [155021]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 22 March 2001]The range and quality of training for unemployed people aged 25 and over is being enhanced across the country next year. We are investing £200 million in improving the New Deal 25 plus. From April it will provide flexible, individually-tailored help, including training and work experience, to all those who have been unemployed for 18 months or more. In England, a re-designed Work-Based Learning for Adults programme will provide a range of job-focused training for those who have been out of work for shorter periods of time. At the same time we are investing heavily in training to help those who need to improve their literacy and numeracy. Taken together, these measures will greatly improve the help on offer to adults who need to improve their skills in order to find work.