§ Mr. Parryasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the recent experiment on the Saturday openings of jobcentres.
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§ Mr. Peter MorrisonThe experiment took place over a period of 16 weeks in 38 Jobcentres and ended on 30 July. On the basis of results from the experiment, the Manpower Services Commission has decided that Saturday morning opening is not in general in demand, nor indeed is it cost-effective. However, the commission has decided that regional managers should have discretion to open particular jobcentres where there is a real public demand which can be met at reasonable cost by volunteer staff.