Job Search Seminar (Hansard, 11 November 1992)

§ Mr. McLoughlin

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Tony Lloyd, dated November 1992:

As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question about job entry rates for those who have attended a job search seminar. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.Over the period October 1991 to September 1992, 12,935 people found jobs during the seminars, giving a job entry rate of 17 per cent.It may be helpful if I explain the background and aim of the job search seminar programme. Job search seminars were introduced in July 1991 as part of a package of measures to provide additional help for people who had been unemployed for 13 weeks. The aim of the seminars is to enhance people's prospects of finding work, and avoid becoming 'long term unemployed', by widening their job search activity and improving their job search techniques.Job search seminars normally last for a period of four days spread over five weeks. This usually takes the form of two days in the first week and half a day in each of the subsequent four weeks. No detailed tracking takes place to see whether people who take part in a seminar eventually start work. For management information purposes, rather than as a performance measure, details are recorded of people who have found work over the five week period of the seminar. Many people will take longer than this to actually get a job and will often have applications still pending at the point when the management information is recordedAn evaluation of job search seminars is currently being undertaken. It will include an assessment of the number of people finding work over a longer period of time. Results are expected by the end of 1992.I hope this is helpful.As decided by the Administration Committee of the House of Commons, Chief Executive replies to written Parliamentary Questions will now be published in the Official Report. I will also place a copy of this letter in the Library of the House.