§ Ms ShortTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment for each region and for Great Britain as a whole how many unemployed people were referred to Restart courses by Employment Service counsellors(a)between April 1991 and March 1992 and (b)from April 1992 to the latest available date, showing for each period how many of them were unemployed for over two years, how many attended and completed the course, what were the outcomes of the participants and how many had benefit penalties imposed for not attending or failing to complete their attendance at the Restart course; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. McLoughlin[pursuant to his answer, 12 March 1993, Official Report, col 747–48]:The chief executive has written further to the hon. Member.
Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Ms Clare Short, dated 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 to her about Restart Courses. These are matters which fall within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.Unfortunately, due to an administrative error, our reply of 12 March did not include the figures about Restart courses. This reply now contains the tables; please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused.As you will know from our previous correspondence, Restart Courses are short courses aimed at helping people 253W who are having the most difficulty returning to work. They are not an alternative to regular job search or other employment or training programmes. Essentially they provide people with the opportunity to explore all the options open to them and give them confidence to take the next step back to work.Since 1990, people who have been unemployed for 2 years or more who refuse or fail to take up a place on an Employment Department employment or training programme at their Restart interview, are asked to attend a Restart Course.As your question has raised a number of specific points, I am setting out the information you have asked for in the four tables attached. Tables 1 and 2 deal with all Restart Course attenders, and tables 3 and 4 refer to those covered by the requirement to attend. As explained in previous replies, we
Table 1 All restart course attenders April 1991 to March 1992 Northern Yorkshire and Humberside East Midlands and Eastern London and South East South West Wales West Midlands North West Scotland Total 1. People referred to Restart courses N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a 2. Starters 12,807 14,631 9,591 21,358 6,608 6,929 15,489 26,239 20,188 133,840 3. Total completers 12,084 13,492 8,439 19,046 5,744 6,166 13,226 24,017 18,208 120,422 Completers who agreed to follow up: Jobs 2,519 3,357 2,529 3,838 1,080 1,612 3,273 5,133 9,633 32,974 Employment training 1,079 1,433 1,081 3,747 927 1,124 3,237 3,423 1,921 17,972 Jobclub 971 937 995 3,602 772 1,007 1,517 2,752 1,126 13,679 Other employment, training and related opportunities 7,545 7,745 5,157 10,755 3,043 3,107 6,057 12,065 7,509 62,983 4. Total number of people with an outcome to follow up1 10,636 11,028 7,537 16,943 4,782 5,175 11,805 20,648 16,177 104,731 N/a—Not available. 1 Some people will be referred to more than one option. 254W
Table 2 All restart course attenders April 1992 to December 1992 Northern Yorkshire and Humberside East Midlands and Eastern London and South East South West Wales West Midlands North West Scotland Total 1. People referred to Restart courses N/a N/a. N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a N/a 2. Starters 6,430 8,631 7,085 20,903 5,150 4,556 10,850 15,175 8,537 87,317 3. Total completers 6,031 7,871 6,346 18,605 4,551 4,050 9,487 13,639 7,518 78,098 Completers who agreed to follow up: Jobs 1,944 2,127 1,901 3,680 861 818 2,482 2,791 4,643 21,247 Employment training 659 1,095 930 3,449 654 833 2,333 2,156 795 12,904 Jobclub 560 741 803 2,823 508 623 891 1,455 464 8,868 Other employment, training and related opportunities 3,535 5,705 4,923 13,878 2,981 2,720 4,695 8,141 3,925 50,503 4. Total number of people with an outcome to follow up1 5,493 7,118 5,812 16,829 3,699 3,645 8,538 12,212 6,860 70,206 N/a—Not available. 1 Some people will be referred to more than one option. collect at a Regional level the number of people who are referred to the course who are also unemployed for 2 years or more. We have not, however, felt it necessary to keep similar figures for all those referred. The Benefits Agency (BA) make the decision on whether an individual's benefit should be reduced for failure to attend or complete the course. Their figures are compiled by BA Districts which have different boundaries to our own Regions. To avoid confusion, I have given the national figure only.
I hope that 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.
255W
Table 3 Restart course attenders unemployed for two years or more April 1991 to March 1992 Northern Yorkshire and Humberside East Midlands and Eastern London and South East South West Wales West Midlands North West Scotland Total 1. People referred to Restart courses 17,768 21,950 10,218 24,367 6,487 7,589 17,240 41,141 34,078 180,838 2. Starters 11,526 12,989 6,587 13,540 4,011 4,760 10,011 23,243 18,395 105,062 3. Total completers 10,915 12,030 5,765 12,100 3,508 4,287 8,616 21,354 16,688 95,263 Completers who agreed to follow up: Jobs 2,248 2,837 1,762 2,324 553 1,088 2,079 4,443 8,919 26,253 Employment training 910 1,236 622 2,139 416 624 1,794 2,940 1,659 12,340 Jobclub 859 799 545 1,997 249 607 772 2,402 949 9,179 Other employment, training and related opportunities 6,811 7,011 3,524 6,675 1,483 2,140 3,911 9,821 6,754 48,130 4. Total number of people with an outcome to follow up1 9,561 9,725 5,035 10,578 2,787 3,449 7,584 18,317 14,815 81,851 5. People for whom a reduction in Income Support was made by Benefits Agency 2— 2— 2— 2— 2— 2— 2— 2— 2— 3,804 1 Some people will be referred to more than one option. 2 Not available by Employment Service region.
Table 4 Restart course attenders unemployed for two years or more April 1992 to December 1992 Northern Yorkshire and Humberside East Midlands and Eastern London and South East South West Wales West Midlands North West Scotland Total 1. People referred to Restart courses 9,285 12,463 8,606 26,748 5,603 6,084 10,848 24,326 15,649 119,612 2. Starters 5,804 7,213 4,708 14,567 3,396 3,164 6,774 12,770 7,297 65,693 3. Total completers 5,427 6,560 4,253 13,098 2,994 2,781 5,962 11,481 6,481 59,037 Completers who agreed to follow up: Jobs 1,723 1,781 1,305 2,583 585 454 1,472 2,290 4,082 16,275 Employment training 579 894 606 2,328 334 499 1,316 1,736 624 8,916 Jobclub 511 548 452 1,702 265 345 438 1,211 323 5,795 Other employment, training and related opportunities 3,188 4,867 3,181 9,622 1,815 1,974 2,854 6,813 3,329 37,643 4. Total number of people with an outcome to follow up1 4,947 5,919 3,880 11,846 2,318 2,416 5,249 10,279 5,929 52,783 5. People for whom a reduction in Income Support was made by the Benefits Agency 2— 2— 2— 2— 2— 2— 2— 2— 2— 3,098 1 Some people will be referred to more than one option. 2 Not available by Employment Service region.