Job Clubs (Hansard, 10 March 1993)

§ 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 Mr. Hartley Booth, dated 10 March 1993: As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to write to you direct to respond to your Parliamentary Question about the performance of Jobclubs in the South East of England. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency. A national study carried out by my Research and Evaluation Branch in 1989 concluded that nationally, 603W attending a Jobclub increased an individual's chalice of finding a full-time job by about 50% This study was followed by a nationwide review of the performance of Jobclubs, carried out by my Consultancy and Management Services in August 1991, which confirmed the effectiveness of the Jobclub programme for the long-term unemployed. Several locations in the South East of England were visited during the fieldwork for the review. Information is collected monthly to measure the performance of individual Johclubs. The information is collated to give area, regional and national totals. Between April 1992 and January 1993, 41% of people leaving Jobclubs in London and the South East Region left to go into jobs. This compares with a national figure of 45%. Overall, in the London and South East Region some 56% went into jobs, further education, training or self-employment compared with 59% nationally. However, these figures have been achieved against a background of a 23% rise in unemployment in the Region over the last year, compared with a 15% rise nationally. London and the South East Region still achieves 27% of all our Jobclub placings into jobs. 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.