HC Deb 27 July 1993 vol 229 cc800-1W
Dr. Spink

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what intiatives he is taking to assist the long-term unemployed in south-east Essex.

Mr. Michael Forsyth

Long-term unemployed people in south-east Essex have access to a range of opportunities specifically aimed to give them the help they need to get back to work. These include Restart, job clubs, the job interview guarantee, training for work, and job plan workshops.

We have also recently introduced learning for work, community action and an expanded business start-up scheme for long-term unemployed people which are just a part of the 1.6 million opportunities available nationally this year through the Employment Service and training and enterprise councils to help unemployed people find the best route back to employment. This is an increase of about 600,000 opportunities on last year.