§ Baroness Macleod of Borveasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they are yet able to give details of the operation of the job start scheme, including the pilot areas in which the schemes will operate.
§ The Secretary of State for Employment (Lord Young of Graffham)The pilot areas for the new schemes to help the long term unemployed will be the following nine areas:
- Billingham,
- Preston,
- Stoke-on-Trent,
- Huddersfield,
- Ealing,
- Plymouth,
- Crawley and Horsham,
- Dundee,
- Port Talbot and Neath.
The pilot schemes will run for six months from January 1986. They will consist of in-depth counselling interviews in jobcentres, a new short course designed specifically to meet the needs of the long-term unemployed and the job start allowance of £20 a week payable for six months to anyone who has been unemployed for twelve months and who takes a job with gross earnings of less than £80 a week.
The job start allowance will be paid direct to the employee and will be free of national insurance contributions for both employees and employers. As income arising from employment, it will be taxable, but it will not be taken into account in calculating entitlement to family income supplement and housing benefit. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Social Services will be carrying out the appropriate consultations before laying regulations before the House to exempt the job start allowance from consideration for family income supplement and housing benefit purposes. The job start allowance will provide a financial incentive for the long-term unemployed to take some of the increasing number of unfilled vacancies.
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