§ Mr. BeggsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) how many people have received traveling expenses from the Training and Employment Agency for travel to a job interview in each of the last three years;
(2) how many people who received travelling expenses in each of the last three years from the Training and Employment Agency to attend a first job interview and who have been shortlisted for a second interview have been unable to attend because travelling expenses funding has not been allowed for a second interview.
§ Mr. AtkinsResponsibility for the subject in question is a matter for the Training and Employment Agency under its Chief Executive, Mr. J. S. Crozier. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from J. S. Crozier to Mr. Roy Beggs, dated 20 May 1993:
You asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to state how many people have received travelling expenses from the Training and Employment Agency for travel to a job interview in each of the last three years.
The Information you requested is as follows:—
Financial Year Number of Approved Applicants 1990–91 1,124 1991–92 1,363 1992–93 1,256 In a further question you asked how many of those included in the above who received assistance from the Training and Employment Agency to attend a first job interview and were short listed for a second interview were unable to attend because travelling expenses funding was not allowed.
All applicants who apply to the Training and Employment Agency for assistance under the Travel to Interview Scheme are formally advised of the conditions which relate to entitlement for support prior to this being given. These conditions are, that the applicant must not have had assistance under the Scheme for a previous interview for the same job. This arises from the fact that as limited funds are available, it is not possible to help at every stage of a lengthy selection procedure. Second interview applications are not accepted and as a result no statistical information is available in this area.