Training (Hansard, 23 February 1993)

§ Mr. Atkins

Responsibility for the subject in question has been delegated to the Training and Employment Agency under its chief executive, Mr. J. S. Crozier. I have asked him for a reply to be given.

Letter from J. S. Crozier to Ms. Clare Short, dated 22 February 1993: You asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he would make a statement about the eligibility rules for the Job Training Programme and Action for Community Employment Schemes; the training and income participants are entitled to when they participate in the programme; and what changes are planned in these schemes for 1993–94. The Secretary of State has passed your questions to me, as Chief Executive of the Training and Employment Agency, for reply. Applicants for the Job Training Programme (JTP) are eligible if they

(a) are aged 18 and under 60; and
(b) have been continuously unemployed for at least 26 weeks.

The Programme is also open to certain other groups who are not registered as unemployed. A full list of those other groups is attached at Annex A. Participants in JTP follow individually tailored programmes of training and practical workplace based experience and have the opportunity to acquire vocational qualifications. Participants on JTP receive a training allowance equivalent to their normal Social Security benefit plus a premium of £10.00 per week. To be eligible for the Action for Community Employment (ACE) Scheme applicants must satisfy the following three conditions:

(i) be at least 18 and under 64 years;
(ii) have been unemployed without a break for at least 3 months immediately before starting on an ACE project; and
(iii) have been unemployed for at least 12 months out of the last 15 months.

524W Exceptions to condition (iii) are listed in Annex B. Each ACE employee will spend on average 20 per cent. of their time in training. Training seeks to address two levels of need—training for the ACE job and training for future employment. All ACE workers are paid the local rate for the job, subject to normal deductions such as National Insurance and income tax. There are no substantive changes planned for either JTP or ACE during 1993–94. However the Agency is currently piloting a single integrated scheme called Jobskills which could eventually replace both the Job Training Programme and the Youth Training Programme. I hope that this information is of help.