Training (Hansard, 28 April 1993)

§ Ms Short
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if the condition of 26 weeks unemployment needs to be fulfilled a second time if a person has to leave training for work because of(a) operational difficulties encountered by their provider, including inability to obtain a suitable work placement or (b) illness or an accident before qualifying for another place; and if she will make a statement.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
Where a provider is no longer in a position to provide training in accordance with a participants individual participation plan, there is a 451W contractual requirement placed on TECs to offer participants the opportunity to transfer to another provider under the terms of a plan substantially similar to the existing plan.
TECs are required to agree their policy for dealing with periods of injury or illness with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State. Where an individual is deemed as having left the programme requalification would be necessary. Time spent in receipt of sickness or invalidity benefit would count' towards the 26-week qualifying period.

§ Ms Short
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what effect the reduction of income support on the grounds of refusing suitable employment or for leaving work voluntarily has on the participation allowance paid to a person who then joins training for work or learning for work; and if she will make a statement.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
Reductions of income support due to a person being voluntarily unemployed are disregarded once they join either training for work or learning for work. Their participation allowance is based on the same amount as their overall assessment for income support.

§ Ms Short
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment in what circumstances time spent on an allowance-supported rehabilitation course counts towards the 26 week qualifying period of training for work; and if she will make a statement.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
Periods of attendance on an employment rehabilitation course count towards the qualifying period for training for work.

§ Ms Short
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what provisions exist for training for work participants who were previously receiving their benefit by a Department of Social Security order book to be paid their participation allowance each week by girocheque; and if she will make a statement.

§ 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 Ms Clare Short, dated 28 April 1993: As the Employment Service (ES) is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question to her about what provisions exist for Training For Work (TFW) participants who were previously receiving their benefit by a DSS order book to be paid their participation allowance each week by Girocheque. This is something which falls within the responsibilities she has delegated me as Chief Executive of the Agency. Where a client was previously receiving their benefit by order book, they are asked to present their order book at a Pre-entry Interview (PEI) which they should attend before entering TFW. At the PEI, clients are informed to cash their final order for the week ending which falls on, or after their TFW start date. Once the final order has been cashed, the order book must be returned immediately to the local Benefits Agency (BA) office. Subsequent payments of participation allowance are then paid at a level equal to the benefit previously in payment but with the addition of £10 Premium. Where the client is in receipt of Income Support (IS), a form is issued by BA to the 452W ES local office to confirm the weekly entitlement to IS. However, some order books include other BA benefits which cannot be changed to a TFW participation allowance, for example attendance allowance. In these cases, if a client is still eligible for the other benefit(s), a revised order book (or girocheques) covering these benefits only is issued by BA. All clients who transfer from a BA order book are paid their participation allowance weekly and receive their payments on their normal pay day. For example, participants who would normally cash their order on a Monday receive their participation allowance girocheque in time for them to cash it on that day. Revised guidance has recently been issued to our local offices to ensure that the people referred to in your question receive their participation allowances promptly. 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.

§ Ms Short
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment in what circumstances people can participate on a part-time basis in training for work, learning for work and the community action programme; what participation allowance they are entitled to; and if she will make a statement.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
Non-employed participants on training for work who receive an allowance can attend part-time for a minimum of 15 hours per seven-day period, provided the TEC or provider accepts that personal or domestic circumstances are such that they could not reasonably be required to attend full-time. There is no abatement of allowance for part-time attendance. Non-employed participants not in receipt of an allowance just attend for more than 21 hours per seven-day period. For participants who are employed or self employed and who are not in receipt of an allowance, there is no minimum hours of attendance required. Learning for work will only offer support to attend full-time courses of 21 hours a week or more.
Temporary work on community action will be only part time, although there will, in addition, be structured job search assistance aimed at helping participants into work, training or other programmes. Participants will receive an allowance equivalent to their benefit entitlement plus £10 a week.

§ Ms Short
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if people on disability benefits will be eligible to participate in(a) learning for work and (b) the community action programme; in what way the eligibility rules for these programmes differ from those which apply to training for work; and if she will make a statement.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
People on disability benefits will be eligible for learning for work, as they are for training for work. But they will not be able to join community action, as that will be a programme of actual work and could not, therefore, be offered to those who receive a benefit on the basis of being unfit for work.

§ Ms Short
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if participants on the community action programme and learning for work programme will be covered by her Department's analogous industrial injuries scheme; and if she will make a statement.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
I can confirm that participants on both community action and learning for work will be covered by the analogous industrial injuries scheme.
453W

§ Ms Short
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans she has to make the learning for work and community action programmes available in the financial year 1994–95; and if she will make a statement.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
Learning for work will provide opportunities for more than 30,000 unemployed people to take vocational education courses in the 1993–94 academic year which spans the 1993–94 and 1994–95 financial years.
Community action will provide 60,000 voluntary work opportunities. The majority of these will be in 1994–95.

§ Sir Rhodes Boyson
To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will publish the total amount of support given by her Department to(a) training and enterprise councils and (b) all other initiatives in (i) England, (ii) Greater London and (iii) the south-east, excluding Greater London, for each year from 1982–83 to 1992–93, estimated, distinguishing between current and capital expenditure, though excluding local authority credit approvals and capital allocations.

§ Mr. McLoughlin
Information on the amount of support provided in England by the Employment Department is published annually in the departmental report, copies of which are available in the Library
The expenditure on training and enterprise programmes delivered through training and enterprise councils in London and the south east for 1991–92 and 1992–93: is

London £ million South East £ million

1991–92 105.1 167.5

¹1992–93 131.4 ²129.9

¹ Provisional

²This figure excludes expenditure on Hertfordshire and Essex TECs after 1 October 1992, which have now transferred to TEED Eastern Region.

Notes:
1. All figures exclude expenditure on adult trainee allowances and TEC management fees.
2. These figures exclude expenditure through Departmental Area Offices.

	London £ million	South East £ million
1991–92	105.1	167.5
¹1992–93	131.4	²129.9
¹ Provisional
²This figure excludes expenditure on Hertfordshire and Essex TECs after 1 October 1992, which have now transferred to TEED Eastern Region.