§ 55. Mr. Ian BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the progress of the Employment Service.
§ Mr. LeeIn the nine months since April, the Employment Service placed over 1.4 million people into jobs, including over 178,000 who had been long-term unemployed. New procedures such as more effective interviews with those making a new claim for benefit will continue to reinforce this trend. Since the establishment of the Employment Service in October 1987 unemployment has fallen by 626,500 overall, with particularly steep falls in long-term unemployment.