§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what is the average cost to public funds of a Joblink Enterprise Ltd. job plan class; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what is the total amount of funding the Government have committed to Joblink Enterprise Ltd. since Joblink Enterprise's inception; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility for the subject of the questions has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked hi m to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Alex Carlile, dated 16 December 1993:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your Questions about Joblink Enterprise Ltd and their involvement in the delivery of programmes for unemployed people and in particular Jobplan Workshops.It may be helpful if I explain that the Employment Service (ES) contracts for a range of programmes to help unemployed people back to work. Contracts are normally awarded as a result of competitive tendering and successful organisations come from the public, private and voluntary sectors.You ask for information about one provider, Joblink Enterprise Ltd who currently hold a number of contracts to deliver ES programmes including Jobplan workshops. Without the permission of the organisation in question, it would, I believe, be inappropriate to disclose information about the average cost of these contracts not least because as it may give other organisations an unfair advantage when future tenders are invited. I can tell you, however, that the average costs nationally of Jobplan workshops and Restart Courses are £1,067 and £708 per course excluding VAT, respectively.You also ask what is the total value of contracts placed with Joblink Enterprise. Between 1 July 1992 and 14 December 1993 we have paid them a total of £2,501,706 for the delivery of our programmes.Vocational training is delivered through the Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) in England and Wales and Local Enterprise Companies (LECs) in Scotland. Contracts for the delivery of training are awarded by the individual TECs and LECs.I have been told by Training, Enterprise and Education Directorate (TEED) of the Employment Department that there is no record of any training contracts between any TEC/LEC and Joblink Enterprise Ltd.I hope this is helpful.