§ Mr. MurphyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what happened to the job club contracts at Bristol, Easton, Gloucestershire, Haverfordwest, Merthyr Tydfil and Newport, Gwent, after the financial collapse of Northavon Training;
(2) what training companies held job club contracts at Bristol, Easton, Gloucestershire, Haverfordwest, Merthyr Tydfil and Newport, Gwent;
(3) whether Happy Extra Ltd., North Avon Enterprise Ltd., Northavon Training, Personal Training or Development Group Ltd. have ever held job club contracts at Bristol, Easton, Gloucestershire, Haverfordwest, Merthyr Tydfil and Newport, Gwent;
(4) if he will list those companies to which job club contracts at Bristol, Easton, Gloucestershire, Haverfordwest, Merthyr Tydfil and Newport, Gwent, were transferred to other training companies, after the collapse of Northavon Training;
(5) what financial assessments his Department has made of Northavon Training.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility for the subject of the questions 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. Paul Murphy, dated 26 January 1994: 289W
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions about the effect of the financial collapse of Northavon Training on Jobclub contracts in Bristol, Easton, Gloucestershire, Haverfordwest, Merthyr Tydfil and Newport in Gwent.You asked what happened to Jobclub contracts which were previously held by Northavon Training in the above locations and which companies took over these contracts after the collapse of this organisation. Before the company went into receivership it operated eleven Jobclub contracts in the places you mention. Information about these Jobclubs together with details of the organisations who have taken the contracts over are in Annex 1.
It is unusual for a Jobclub contract to be interrupted or terminated because of financial problems on the part of the contractor. Where this does occur, the Employment Service (ES) takes steps to ensure there is as little disruption as possible to the Jobclub members. This can mean making temporary, short-term arrangements which will later be followed by our normal, fully competitive, tendering procedures. Such a process has occurred in several of the locations involved in your question.I have listed at Annex 2 all organisations which held Jobclub contracts in December 1993 at the locations you mention.You also asked whether Happy Extra Ltd., Northavon Enterprise Ltd., Northavon Training, Personal Training and
Annex 1 Northavon Training—Jobclub contracts Locations Number of contracts Action Bristol 2 Contracts transferred to Northavon Training, as operating division of newly formed Personal Training and Development Group. Easton Nil Not applicable. Gloucestershire Forest of Dean 3 Contracts transferred to Northavon Training, as operating division of newly formed Personal Training and Development Group. Cheltenham 1 Transferred to caretaker provider—GLOSCAT, pending full competitive tendering exercise to be completed by April 1994. Gloucester 2 Transferred to caretaker provider—JHP TRAINING, pending full competitive tendering exercise to be completed by April 1994. Haverfordwest 1 Temporary arrangements to provide Jobclub service internally, pending full competitive tendering exercise to be completed by April 1994. Merthyr Tydfil 1 Temporary arrangements to provide Jobclub service internally, pending full competitive tendering exercise to be completed by April 1994. Newport, Gwent 1 Jobclubs within the area were able to accommodate all members. Competitive tendering exercise will be completed by April 1994. 290W
Annex 2 Organisations holding jobclub contracts December 1993 Location Name of organisation Type1 Number of contracts Bristol Fifton College CFE 4 Scout Enterprises [Western Ltd.] PR 4 Northavon Training PR 2 Grant Met Trust Ltd. PR 2 Bowerman Associates PR 1 North Avon Chamber of Commerce PR 1
Development Group Ltd. have ever held Jobclub contracts in these same locations. I asked my people to check our records and I can say that Happy Extra Ltd. have never held a Jobclub contract. Northavon Training was a subsidiary company of Northavon Enterprises Ltd. which ceased trading in December 1993. Following a management buy out, Northavon Training is now operating as part of the newly formed Personal Training and Development Group. All Jobclub contracts in Annex 1 where with Northavon Training except for the Jobclub in Newport which was awarded to Northavon Enterprise Ltd.In the past we have not required a financial assessment of prospective programme contractors. This is mainly due to the low risk nature of Jobclub contracts where payments are made monthly in arrears after the service has been delivered. These arrangements mean there is no loss to public funds where a contractor ceases trading because of financial problems. However, some checks were made in the case of Northavon Training and these gave no cause for concern. The issue of more systematic financial scrutiny of potential contractors for Jobclub and other programmes is currently being considered by people concerned with policy development in my Head Office.I hope this is helpful.291W
Location Name of organisation Type1 Number of contracts POC associates Ltd. PR 1 Personnel and Training Services PR 1 South Bristol College CFE 1 South West Management Ltd. PR 1 Appex Trust CH 1 Barton Hill Settlement CH 1 Newfoundland Employment CH 1
Location Name of organisation Type1 Number of contracts Scout Enterprises Easton (Western Ltd.) PR 1 Gloucestershire Northavon Training PR 3 JHP Training Ltd. PR 3 GLOSCAT CFE 2 Bennington Training Services Ltd. PR 1 Personnel and Training Services PR 1 Stroud College CFE 1 Haverfordwest Northavon Training PR 1 Merthyr Tydfil Northavon Training PR 1 Newport, Gwent Basil Hewell PR 2 Accents Ltd. PR 1 Northavon Enterprise Ltd. PR 1 1 Key. PR—Private Provider.
CFE—College of Further Education.
CH—Charity.