§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his latest estimate of the gross and net cost in wages, administration, materials and other associated expenses of (a) job creation, (b) community industry, and (c) work experience; and what is the net cost per head.
§ Mr. Golding(a) I am informed by the MSC that the latest estimate of the gross cost of the job creation programme by the time the programme ends on 31st December 1978 will be £166 million. The net cost of the programme, taking account of savings in social security and unemployment benefits, national insurance contributions and taxes which would normally revert to the Exchequer, is estimated to be about £75 million. The net cost per job created is approximately £675. The average duration of a job created under JCP is 31 weeks.
(b) The gross cost of the work experience programme up to the end of September 1977 is estimated at £4,905,000. The net cost, taking into account savings in supplementary benefit, is estimated at £2,669,000. The net cost per head of young people participating in WEP is £212 for a 26-week period.
(c) Central Government spending on Community Industry during October 1977 was £810,000. The estimated net cost during October 1977 was £486,000 and the estimated net cost per head was £112. The costs of materials are borne by sponsors and local authorities respectively.