Training and Employment Agency (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 assistance and programmes the Training and Employment Agency makes available to assist unemployed people look for work and what changes are planned in these programmes in 1993–94. The Secretary of State has passed your questions to me, as Chief Executive of the Training and Employment Agency, for reply. The Agency has a network of 31 local offices, linked by central computer, which delivers an all-age guidance and placement service. The full range of employment and training services is available through the network of "one stop shops" which, since April 1992, have helped around 35,000 adults to find jobs or a place on an Agency scheme. For those out of work for a lengthy period the Agency runs a Restart programme which is specifically designed to provide help and encouragement to those who have been unemployed for more than six months. In the course of the programme everyone in this category is invited to attend an interview in their local Agency office. During the interview each person is given advice on job vacancies or offered a place on an Action for Community Employment (ACE) Scheme, Jobclub or training course. Responsibility for the Restart Programme will transfer to the Social Security Agency from April 1993. The Training and Employment Agency also provides practical help with job-hunting for the long-term unemployed, through a network of 28 Jobclubs. Members are given advice on aspects such as the completion of application forms, CVs, preparation for interviews etc and the Jobclub provides photocopying, typing, telephone, stationery and postage facilities. In addition the Agency also provides training programmes for the unemployed. The Youth Training Programme (YTP) and the Job Training Programme (JTP) provide all entrants to the labour market and the adult unemployed respectively with the opportunity to obtain skills and qualifications to help them compete for suitable jobs. YTP offers 16 and 17 year olds a structured programme of directed and workplace training of up to 2 years' duration. JTP offers those aged 18 and under 60 an individually tailored programme of up to one year of directed training and practical workplace-based experience. The Action for Community Employment (ACE) Scheme provides temporary employment, with training, of up to one year's duration for long-term unemployed adults in a wide range of projects of benefit to the community. Each programme provides an element of jobsearch skills/interview techniques for participants. There are no changes planned for YTP/JTP and ACE during 1993–94. However the Agency is currently piloting a single, integrated scheme which may replace both YTP and JTP and which will offer training to entrants to the labour market and to the unemployed. I hope that this information is of help.