§ Mr. CryerTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what regulations prevent the payment of travel allowance for job interviews to unemployed persons unless they have been unemployed for at least four weeks; and if he will make a statement.
361W
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility 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. Bob Cryer, dated 27 January 1994.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the four week unemployment regulation which excludes people from assistance to travel to job interviews.I assume you are asking about one of the Travel to Interview Scheme (TIS) eligibility rules. One of the TIS rules, i.s as you suggest, that people need to be unemployed for four weeks before they can become eligible. This eligibility condition is not a statutory requirement but part of the arrangements of the scheme. The reason for this is that there would be no advantage in spending money on encouraging people to broaden their jobsearch if there were jobs available locally. The qualifying period helps target the assistance on those who have explored their locality for work but who now have a need to look further afield.The Travel to Interview Scheme was introduced in 1986 to help with the travel costs of unemployed people attending job interviews beyond daily travelling distance of their home area, thus widening the applicant's jobsearch improving their chances of obtaining work and encouraging labour mobility. During 1992–93 the scheme helped over 45,000 applicants at a cost of £.1.5 million. A few basic conditions must be met before assistance can be granted, to ensure that the funds available are concentrated on those unemployed people in most need. A leaflet outlining the scope of the scheme is enclose.I hope this is helpful.