§ Mrs. Bridget PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people were signed off from the Lewisham and Catford jobcentres without reason being given after a Restart interview during 1993.
§ 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 P. J. Walsh to Mrs. Bridget Prentice, dated 2 March 1994:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the number of people who were signed off without a reason being given after a Restart Interview at Lewisham and Catford Jobcentres.
Unfortunately, the information you request is not available. Statistics on people who leave the register after a Restart Interview are collected only where we can demonstrate that the sign off was the direct result of the interview. Undoubtedly this somewhat underestimates the total effectiveness of Restart Interviews but the alternative would be to include numerous people who would have left the register anyway. The figures I can, therefore, give you are in the attached table.
These figures reflect only the direct results of Restart. We do not know how many people subsequently take up a job or a place on an employment or training programme as a result of the guidance given to them at their interview.
I hope this is helpful.
776W
Lewisham jobcentre Catford jobcentre Number of Restart Interviews carried out in 1993 5,040 5,137 Number of people placed into jobs 122 161 Number of people who took up other benefits 38 8 Number of people who signed off as a direct result of Client Adviser Action 146 21 Number of people who started on the following ED programmes: 1,576 1,605 Jobclub Restart Courses Jobplan Workshops Job Review Workshops Training for Work Community Action Work Trials Business Start-Up Scheme Job Interview Guarantee