HC Deb 25 February 2003 vol 400 cc488-9W
Mr. Heald

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people, broken down by client group, participated in the 'ONE' pilot schemes; and how many people in each client group obtained employment as a result. [91642]

Mr. Nicholas Brown

[holding answer 20 January 2003: Participation in ONE became mandatory from April 2000. During the period from April 2000 to April 2002, 457,976 jobseekers, 128,537 sick or disabled clients, 49,909 lone parents and 55,077 clients in other categories entered ONE.

Survey evidence from the ONE evaluation found that 41 per cent. of jobseekers, 25 per cent. of sick or disabled clients and 14 per cent. of lone parents, had moved into work of over 16 hours a week, four to five months after having begun their claim.

These figures correct those provided on lone parents in a previous reply to the hon. Member on 7 January which were taken from the ONE Management Information System which is less robust than the longer-term formal evaluation of ONE.

Further information on the employment effects of ONE has been published in DWP Research Report No 156 and DWP In-house Report No 88, copies of which are in the House of Commons Library. Final results from the ONE evaluation will be published on 31 January.

The majority of ONE offices will become fully integrated Jobcentre Plus offices by March 2003. The remaining offices will continue to provide an integrated service until they transfer as part of the Jobcentre Plus national roll out.

Mr. MacDougall

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of lone parents participating in the ONE programme have gained employment in(a) Scotland and (b) Fife. [93562]

Mr. Nicholas Brown

The only ONE pilot in Scotland was a Basic Model pilot in Clyde Coast and Renfrew, and so lone parents in Fife did not participate in the ONE programme.

The ONE evaluation found that 20 per cent. of lone parents in the Basic Model of ONE had moved into work of over sixteen hours a week when they were interviewed between ten and eleven months after having begun their claim.

Evaluation findings are not available for individual ONE pilot areas so we cannot provide separate figures for the Scottish pilot.

Final results from the ONE evaluation, including the employment effects of ONE, were published on 31 January 2003 as DWP Research Report No 183, copies of

which are in the House of Commons Library.