HC Deb 28 April 1986 vol 96 cc333-4W
Ms. Clare Short

asked the Paymaster General if he will publish references to all the available research studies sponsored by his Department that have examined the effect of (i) the young workers' scheme, (ii) the enterprise allowance scheme, (iii) the community programme, (iv) the YTS and (v) the small firms loan guarantee scheme; and if he will indicate the measures the Government are taking to monitor the effects of the new workers' scheme and the jobstart scheme.

Mr. Lang

The informaton is as follows:

  1. (i) A summary of research on the young workers scheme was sent to the Employment Committee on 10 April and details of available research will be published in the next issue of the Employment Gazette. Surveys of the young workers scheme in 334 1983 and 1985 were conducted by the Social and Community Planning Research for the Department and published. The Institute of Manpower Studies produced a commentary on the young workers scheme, (Number 16), IMS 1982.
  2. (ii) Two articles on the enterprise allowance scheme have been published in the Employment Gazette: "Evaluation of the pilot Enterprise Allowance Scheme", August 1984, and "An Evaluation of the Enterprise Allowance Scheme", August 1985. Two reports by Social and Community Planning Research, are in the House of Commons Library: "People on the Enterprise Allowance", January 1984, and "Two years after the Enterprise Allowance", December 1985.
  3. (iii) Surveys of community programme participants and ex-participants are regularly placed in the Library of the House.

Those published since the start of the programme are "Survey of Community Programme Participants", Autumn 1983, Spring 1984 and Autumn 1984. Postal follow up surveys were published in December 1984 and November 1985.

In addition a survey of community programme sponsors was published in April 1984 and on 14th April this year the report "Value for Money in the Community Programme" was published and copies are in the Library.

  1. (iv) YTS follow-up reports are regularly filed in the House of Commons Library. A survey of YTS providers was published in the Employment Gazette in August 1985 and two papers have been published in the Manpower Services Commission's R and D series: "Ethnic Minorities and the Youth Training Scheme", No. 20, and "A review of the ITEC programme. Its role in YTS and options for the future", No. 27.
  2. (v) The Department of Employment took over responsibility for the loan guarantee scheme from the Departmnt of Trade and Industry in September 1985. The Department of Trade and Industry published five studies of the scheme: "Interim Assessment of the Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme", July 1982; "An analysis of some early claims under the Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme", 1983; "Commentary on a Telephone Survey of Borrowers", 1983; "Commentary on a telephone survey of borrowers financed under the Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme" 1984; and "A Study of Businesses Financed under the Small Business Loan Guarantee Scheme", 1984.

We expect to monitor the new workers scheme in the same way as we have been monitoring the young workers scheme; we are closely monitoring the response to the jobstart allowance, including the number of successful and unsuccessful applications, in each of the nine pilot areas.