§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make available the results of the spring 1988 postal survey of ex-job club members; if he will indicate how many of those surveyed were(a) in permanent, full-time jobs, (b) unemployed and (c) in jobs paying more than £120 per week; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LeeCopies of the report "Job Clubs—Report on the Postal Survey of Individuals who joined Job Clubs in Autumn 1987" have been lodged in the House of Commons Library.
The survey was a follow-up of a sample of people who joined job clubs between 14 September and 23 October 1987. At the time of the survey, 11 per cent. were still in job clubs, 87 per cent. had left and the destination of the remaining 2 per cent. was unclear.
Of those who had definitely left job clubs, 57 per cent. had left to go into a job or self-employment and a further 14 per cent. had gone into community programme, full-time education or training. Of those who left for a job or self-employment, 58 per cent. described themselves as in permanent, full-time jobs.
At the time of the survey (some six months after joining job clubs) 43 per cent. of all leavers were still in jobs and 40 per cent. described themselves as unemployed.
Thirty one per cent. of those entering permanent, full-time jobs were earning over £120 a week.
The survey showed that the majority of those who leave without a job do so very early on and that after one week the proportion of people leaving for jobs increases up to three weeks' stay (69 per cent.) and then declines gradually up to nine to 13 weeks' stay (60 per cent.). These results demonstrate that it is worth giving job clubs a chance and that persistence pays off.
§ Ms. ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many job clubs have been(a) established, and (b) closed or withdrawn since the start of 542W the programme, giving the information separately for those run by (i) the employment service and (ii) external agencies; how many job club members have found jobs or other positive outcomes and how many members have now been attending their job club for over six months.
§ Mr. LeeInformation on the numbers of job clubs established and closed or withdrawn since the start of the programme is only available at disproportionate cost.
At 25 November 1988 1,220 job clubs were open. Of these 536 were run by employment service staff, mainly based in jobcentres, with 684 run by other organisations working to an annual contract. Since April 1986, when central records began, 121,494 job club members have found jobs and a further 31,268 have gone into other positive outcomes such as employment training, a place on community programme, or the enterprise allowance scheme. Records are not kept of the number of members who have been attending job clubs for over six months. However, the job club postal survey which was carried out in March 1988 found that around six months after joining 11 per cent. of respondents were still in job clubs.