Havering (Employment) (Hansard, 20 July 2004)

§ Jane Kennedy

The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from David Anderson to Mr. Rosindell dated 20 July 2004:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply direct to your question about the help available to those seeking employment in Havering. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.

There are two Jobcentre Plus offices delivering services to the people of Havering.

1. Romford Jobcentre Plus, 30 Main Road, Romford. Opened on 7 June 2004.
2. Hornchurch Jobcentre Plus, North Street, Hornchurch. Opened on 24 March 2004.

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Both offices provide a range of services to customers seeking employment, including: access to a personal adviser to assist finding suitable employment; access to touch screen Jobpoints or the internet; entry to the New Deal programme; work trials, for customers to show employers what they can do or to try out a job.

Depending on personal circumstances there is other help available to help customers find employment. For example, lone parents may be able to get help with childcare costs. People with disabilities can get help from specialist Disability Employment Advisers or join New Deal for Disabled People. A range of training programmes is also available to provide extra support and help in getting, and keeping, a job. Further details on the services available are contained in leaflet PFL 2, available in Jobcentre Plus offices, or by visiting www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk.

Although these services are common to Jobcentre Plus offices, there are a range of local initiatives, specific to Havering, to help local people into work.

The Oldchurch Recruitment Centre, for example, opened in May 2004 and initially targeted the construction workers for the first phase of the development of the new Oldchurch Hospital. This positive partnership working with local employers has resulted in over 30 customers gaining employment at the site. To expand this scheme we are developing working agreements with the local Health trusts and have begun to match Jobcentre Plus customers with vacancies as they arise in local Hospitals.

Another initiative is with the new Asda supermarket, due to open in Romford in the autumn of 2005. Work is to begin on clearing the site in the autumn 2004 and we are in discussion to use our services to recruit people for the demolition and construction phases of the new store. Furthermore, we aim to undertake the entire recruitment of staff for this new supermarket.

We have also planned a number of events for the summer to specifically address the employment needs of customers in Havering. In partnership with the London Borough of Havering, Jobcentre Plus will be running a stand at the Havering Town Show on 29 and 30 August. This will promote the services of Jobcentre Plus and assist customers in finding employment. Furthermore there will be a seasonal vacancy promotion in the Romford area on 21 and 22 September 2004 designed to match customers to upcoming Christmas vacancies.

Table A—legal services provided to the former Employment service and Jobcentre Plus by private sector law firm
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Number of cases
Equal pay	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	0
Sex discrimination	6	12	9	8	6	4	4	1
Race discrimination	5	2	8	10	5	2	3	0
Disability discrimination	9	14	14	27	20	22	18	7
Unfair dismissal	0	0	6	10	7	13	11	8
Number of cost awards
Against respondent	—	—	—	—	2	4	11	14
Against applicant	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Costs
Settling	—	—	—	—	121,500.00	43,580.00	94,291.00	96,277.95
Contesting	114,728.26	219,312.39	190,883.69	284,339.38	460,693. 75	290,394.51	334,085.94	131,064.09

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The District Manager for North East London, has written to all local MPs offering to meet on a regular basis to discuss developments in the District.

I hope this is helpful.