§ Mr. Andrew MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he has any plans to improve the help and advice given to unemployed people by the employment service; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. HowardI have today agreed with the employment service a number of changes which extend and improve the present system of offering counselling and advice to unemployed people. These changes will be of particular benefit to those who have been unemployed for over six months.
The changes are aimed at those unemployed people who are prepared to get back to work but have not been able to do so and also at making sure that the recent legislative changes which require those in receipt of benefit to be actively seeking work are properly enforced.
The main points where improvements to the present system will be made are:
a back to work plan agreed with the adviser which gives individual guidance for each unemployed person on how best to find work. This will be reviewed and revised at regular intervals. Accompanying it will be a new booklet emphasising that the need to look for work is a fundamental responsibility of everyone who expects to receive unemployment benefits and giving general guidance on how best to go about it;a new advisory interview after 13 weeks of unemployment with a check on activity in looking for a job and subsequent help for those who have been unable to get work even though their skills are in demand in the local labour market;a unified advisory service which will abolish the increasingly artificial distinction between restart counsellors and claimant advisers and enhance the support that the employment service can give to unemployed people. In particular, the employment service will aim to ensure that each unemployed person after the fresh claims stage is seen by the same adviser during any period of unemployment;a more systematic follow-up of those who do not take up places on employment training, in job clubs or on restart courses even though they have agreed to do so. Advisers will be given a caseload of unemployed people whom they will re-interview if necessary so that the reasons behind individual decisions can be checked and further advice and action considered;extra intensive counselling and advice for those who have been unemployed for two years.Taken together, these measures will improve the effectiveness of the help that the employment service is able to give to unemployed people in getting them away from dependency on benefit and into work or other opportunities that will improve their chances of getting a job.