§ Mr. MacGregorasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many jobcentres there are in Central London including the City; where they are located; what is the annual cost of each; and how many new jobs each has placed over the last convenient 12-month period.
§ Mr. GoldingI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that there are seven jobcentres in Central London, including the City, located as follows:
Borough Jobcentre
92 Borough High Street, London, SE1 1LS.
Cathedral Place Jobcentre
43 Cathedral Place, London, EC4 M7ES.
Edgware Road Jobcentre
182 Edgware Road, London, W2 1ET.
Holborn Jobcentre
275–277 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7EE.
Piccadilly Jobcentre
215 Piccadilly, London, WI 9LD.
Victoria Jobcentre 119–121 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6RB.
Wardour Street Jobcentre
195–197 Wardour Street, London W1V 3FA.
As for the annual costs, rents are not generally disclosed for commercial reasons and figures for other current expenditure for these jobcentres could not be made available except at disproportionate cost. The hon. Member may, however, find it useful to have the following details of the operating costs of an average job-centre which were obtained in a recent evaluation exercise.
29W
OPERATING COSTS OF AN AVERAGE JOBCENTRE (15 STAFF) Cost element £ percent Salaries(1) 56,403 67.8 Staff expenses(2) 1,071 1.3 Running expenses(3) 4,656 5.6 Premises costs(4) 19,545 23.5 Advertising/publicity 1,521 1.8 83,196 100.0 Notes (1) Includes employers costs such as ERNIC and liability for superannuation. (2) Covers travel and subsistence costs. (3) Covers such items as postage, stationery, telephone charges. (4) Covers rent, rates, maintenance, office cleaning, utilities and depreciation on adaptations and furniture and fittings. (5) The Hon. Member will note that premises costs, as a rule, only amount to 23.5 per cent. of total costs; whilst premises costs are obviously higher in Central London than the average quoted, other costs will be similar. The number of placings achieved by the seven jobcentres during the past 12
Jobcentre Number of placings Period Borough … … … 279 1 months (office opened 21st August 1978) Cathedral Place … … … 404 12 months Edgware Road … … … 1,930 12 months Holborn … … … 791 12 months Piccadilly … … … 1,280 12 months Victoria … … … 977 10 months (office opened 28th November 1977) Wardour Street … … … No figure available —(office opened 2nd October 1978)
§ Mr. Foxasked the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of people found employment by jobcentres are in work at the time of application.
§ Mr. GoldingI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission, which is responsible for the operation of the public employment service, that about 10 per cent. of the people who find employment through jobcentres are in work at the time of application.
§ Mr. Foxasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many jobcentres have been opened on new sites up to the most recent date; and what has been the total cost.
§ Mr. GoldingI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that up to and including 6th November 1978, 391 jobcentres have been opened on new sites. Regarding the total cost of these job-centres, information is not available for the financial year 1975–76 and could be made available for subsequent financial years only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. McCrindleasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the proportion of vacancies filled by jobcentres
30W months, or part thereof, is given below:
Number of vacancies "of" April-June 1973 1977 type of office in 1977 "Off" Proportion filled (per cent.) "off" Proportion filled (per cent.) Difference in proportion filled between 1973 and 1977 (a) Jobcentres … 151,437 63 158,047 70 +7 (b) Employment offices … 104,988 60 82,389 66 +6 (c) Restructed offices … 219,125 63 195,251 68 +5 (d) (b) and (c) combined … 324,113 62 277,640 67 +5 Notes: 1. There were no jobcentres or restructured offices in 1973. In 1977 the national network contained: (a) Jobcentres—attractive modern offices close to the main pedestrian traffic flow with self-service facilities and specially trained employment advisers. (b) Restructured offices—employment offices with self-service facilities and employmen advisers. (c) Employment offices—offices without extensive self-service and without advisory services staffed by employment advisers. compared with that filled by the previous employment exchanges.
§ Mr. GoldingI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission, which is responsible for the operation of local employment offices, including jobcentres, that a number of special studies were carried out in 1977 which provided information about the comparative performance of jobcentres and other employment offices.
One such study showed that, in the areas where jobcentres existed, employment service placings were about 26 per cent. of all engagements. The corresponding figure in areas without jobcentres was 20 per cent.
Another such study provided information about the proportion of vacancies notified to the different types of office that were filled by the employment service. This showed that the proportion was 70 per cent. in jobcentre areas and 67 per cent. in areas without jobcentres. The table below gives the number of vacancies "off"—that is, vacancies previously notified that within a specified period of time are filled, cancelled or lapsed—and the proportion of them which were filled by the different types of office in the periods April-June 1973 and April-June 1977.
31W
2. The national network contains about 1,000 offices. The table excludes 31 offices that did not cover the same territory in 1973 as they did in 1977, and also excludes 63 offices that were "converted" to jobcentres without moving to a new site. 3. The figures represent the number of placings made of people from within the area served by an office, and from other areas, into vacancies notified by local employers to that office.
§ Mr. McCrindleasked the Secretary of State for Employment, in view of the lack of obligation by employers to notify vacancies to jobcentres, if he will review the necessity for such jobcentres.
§ Mr. GoldingNo. The Manpower Services Commission, which is responsible for the operation of jobcentres, published, in May 1978, the results of a major evaluation of jobcentres which showed that they are well worth while.