§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment for each employment service region, how many restart interviews were conducted between July 1985 and May 1986 inclusive, and during April and May 1988.
§ Mr. CopeThe national programme of restart interviews started in July 1986, following pilots in nine offices from January to June 1986.
The number of restart interviews conducted in the pilot offices between January and May 1986, together with the numbers of interviews conducted in each employment service region during April and May 1988, are shown in the tables.
Pilot office January-May 1986 cumulative Dundee 4,445 Billingham 1,099 Preston 2,801 Huddersfield 2,502 Stoke 4,221 Port Talbot and Neath 2,400 Plymouth 3,224 Crawley/Horsham 708 Ealing 2,467 Total 23,867
Restart programme: Number of interviews April 1988 May 1988 Northern 14,285 12,354 Yorkshire and Humberside 18,955 16,406 East Midlands and Eastern 17,467 15,296 London and South East 42,271 37,539 South West 10,047 8,616 Wales 10,961 10,082 West Midlands 20,123 16,716 North West 33,647 28,485 Scotland 24,694 21,601
§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment for each jobcentre conducting restart interviews, how many restart interviews were conducted during May; and how many claimants were referred to the unemployment benefit service due to availability doubts during May.
§ Mr. CopeThe information requested is not available centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment for each jobcentre in the 11 areas chosen to pilot the availability test questionnaire RR6 form, how many restart interviews were conducted during March, April and May; and how many claimants were referred to the unemployment benefit service due to availability doubts during March, April and May.
660W
§ Mr. CopeThe information requested for the 11 offices involved in launching the restart interview form (RR6) is shown in the table.
Office March April May Billingham Restart Interviews 747 870 671 Availability Referrals 21 16 18 Huddersfield Restart Interviews 451 633 507 Availability Referrals 24 28 18 Leicester Restart Interviews 1,542 1,841 1,298 Availability Referrals 201 176 141 Ealing Restart Interviews 759 953 721 Availability Referrals 65 71 69 Wimbledon Restart Interviews 714 504 245 Availability Referrals 140 81 30 Watford Restart Interviews 340 515 333 Availability Referrals 22 60 45 Plymouth Restart Interviews 1,080 1,069 952 Availability Referrals 68 54 48 Port Talbot Restart Interviews 706 674 625 Availability Referrals 45 48 70 Stoke Restart Interviews 1,184 951 789 Availability Referrals 98 95 139 Preston Restart Interviews 756 608 533 Availability Referrals 58 36 50 Dundee Restart Interviews 963 1,448 1,185 Availability Referrals 30 43 57
§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what provision is to be made to include suitable courses of study to the restart menu; and what guidance will be given to restart counsellors to interpret the meaning of suitable when judging a course to be a positive outcome from a restart interview.
§ Mr. CopeThe restart programme is the gateway to a range of opportunities to help the individual into work. These include courses of study made available by local education authorities and others. The decision to take up a course of study is made by the individual after discussion with the restart interviewer. A course of study likely to benefit an individual's job prospects would be regarded as a positive outcome from the interview.