Restart Interviews (Hansard, 8 June 1995)

§ Miss Widdecombe

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. G. Johnson to Mr. Terry Rooney, dated 6 June 1995: The Secretary of State has asked me, in the absence of the Chief Executive, to reply to your question regarding Restart Interviews from 1988–89 to 1994–95. I have set out the information you have requested in the attached tables. You will wish to note however, that information on people who sign off from claiming benefit for reasons other than those in the three listed categories of total Restart Interviews, job placings and programme starts, has been collected only since 1990/91 and 281W covers only those cases where a direct connection between the interview and the client leaving unemployment can be demonstrated. It may be helpful if I explain the scope and purpose of the Restart Interviews which are offered at regular six monthly intervals as part of an advisory and information service aimed at helping people back into work. These interviews provide clients with the opportunity to discuss with a Client Adviser the steps they are taking to find work, how to access the employment and training opportunities that are available to them and the course of action which, if followed, will offer the best prospects of returning to work. While the primary aim of this service is to help people back into work, advisers also have a duty to make sure those claiming benefit understand and comply with the conditions under which they are paid. These conditions require people to be available to start work immediately; not to place such restrictions on the work they are

1988–89	Northern	Yorkshire and Humberside	East Midlands	London and South East	South West	Wales	West Midlands	North West	Scotland	Total
Total Restart Interviews	157,562	211,306	176,822	445,594	101,764	118,408	210,344	349,122	282,658	2,053,580
Job Placings	408	938	1,183	3,476	480	962	1,198	1,977	1,745	12,367
Other Benefit Starts	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—
Programmes Starts¹	23,756	27,887	22,093	50,813	11,201	19,877	27,074	42,570	45,110	270,381
Other Sign Offs	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—
¹ Jobclub, Enterprise Allowance Scheme (EAS), Restart Course, Employment Training (ET), Job Training Scheme, Community Programme, Voluntary Projects Programme.
² Statistics not collected.

1989–90	Northern	Yorkshire and Humberside	East Midlands	London and South East	South West	Wales	West Midlands	North West	Scotland	Total
Total Restart Interviews	150,571	170,328	180,598	459,332	98,485	132,341	230,541	330,892	279,545	2,032,633
Job Placings	436	839	1,926	6,475	754	1,688	2,441	1,909	1,971	18,439
Other Benefit Starts	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—
Programmes Starts¹	22,496	24,206	19,801	53,414	12,063	19,060	30,644	36,195	43,468	261,347
Other Sign Offs	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—
¹ Jobclub, EAS, Restart Course, ET.
² Statistics not collected.

1990–91	Northern	Yorkshire and Humberside	East Midlands	London and South East	South West	Wales	West Midlands	North West	Scotland	Total
Total Restart Interviews	142,603	184,999	144,714	448,869	93,505	114,717	167,843	313,342	277,786	1,888,378
Job Placings	639	1,090	1,151	9,059	619	1,452	1,285	1,799	1,972	19,066
Other Benefit Starts	3,772	3,288	3,209	8,918	1,722	2,485	3,534	5,505	5,006	37,439
Programmes Starts¹	17,266	18,185	14,369	37,989	10,519	12,705	21,803	28,145	31,782	192,763
Other Sign Offs (Fraud/Found Work)	3,258	4,647	8,084	12,373	5,997	5,748	6,258	10,618	7,586	64,569
¹ Jobclub, EAS, Restart Course, ET

1991–92	Northern	Yorks and Humberside	East Midlands	London and South East	South West	Wales	West Midlands	North West	Scotland	Total
Total Restart Interviews	173,776	226,727	211,000	646,400	147,202	151,821	237,165	404,875	296,974	2,495,940
Job Placings	794	1,052	2,456	7,720	1,094	1,466	1,599	2,413	2,591	21,185
Other Benefit Starts	5,054	6,483	6,476	14,959	3,690	5,111	5,958	11,400	10,147	69,278
Programmes Starts¹	27,745	30,714	26,554	80,583	20,297	20,500	36,948	54,571	45,092	343,004
Other Sign Offs (Fraud-Found Work)	6,651	5,192	9,881	22,110	11,987	8,248	7,845	10,540	13,807	96,261
¹ Jobclub, EAS, Restart Course, ET, Job Review Workshop (JRW), Employment Action (EA), Job Interview Guarantee (JIG).

1992–93	Northern	Yorkshire and Humberside	East Midlands	London and South East	South West	Wales	West Midlands	North West	Scotland	Total
Total Restart Interviews	172,212	209,592	252,469	854,311	200,833	148,542	258,437	441,163	280,722	2,818,281
Job Placings	2,730	12,241	10,005	37,193	6,325	6,646	11,297	12,723	12,583	111,743
Other Benefit Starts	3,402	5,437	6,271	15,338	4,061	4,482	5,476	10,970	8,076	63,513

282W

willing to do as to leave them with no real prospects of finding a job; and to take those steps, each week, which offer the best prospects of obtaining work. As part of this process, advisers ensure that people are claiming the most appropriate benefit. If, during an interview, discussions between the client and the adviser identify that an alternative benefit is more appropriate, then the adviser will ensure a smooth transition to the correct benefit. I should emphasise that the figures shown in the tables represent only the immediate result of Restart interviews. Many other 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. Independent researchers who have studied the Restart Interview programme have all concluded that this indirect effect is extremely significant. I hope this is helpful.

283W

1992–93	Northern	Yorkshire and Humberside	East Midlands	London and South East	South West	Wales	West Midlands	North West	Scotland	Total
Programmes Starts¹	23,913	31,980	33,208	120,924	31,349	21,783	38,529	56,170	39,179	397,035
Sign Offs as a Direct Result of CA Action	2,763	4,457	4,513	18,024	5,824	2,942	6,748	7,006	4,986	57,263
¹ Jobclub, EAS, Restart Course, ET, JRW, EA, JIG, Job Search Seminar (JSS)

1993–94	Northern	Yorkshire and Humberside	East Midlands	London and South East	South West	Wales	West Midlands	North West	Scotland	Total
Total Restart Interviews	187,640	269,231	284,901	1,090,855	250,163	166,216	332,763	456,682	285,690	3,324,141
Job Placings	717	3,305	2,640	9,652	1,967	1,620	5,021	3,405	7,557	35,884
Other Benefit Starts	2,502	6,728	5,607	14,923	4,557	4,003	6,282	9,395	7,193	61,190
Programmes Starts¹	37,339	60,523	54,999	267,664	63,400	32,829	71,488	83,207	60,391	731,840
Sign Offs as a Direct Result of CA Action	1,769	4,650	5,163	29,954	8,159	2,479	8,409	6,473	4,620	71,676
¹ All Employment Group Programme starts

1994–95	Northern	Yorkshire and Humberside	East Midlands	London and South East	South West	Wales	West Midlands	North West	Scotland	Total
Total Restart Interviews	215,683	340,134	343,155	1,198,258	271,335	187,989	364,259	504,059	333,721	3,758,593
Job placings	1,583	4,976	6,080	11,135	3,121	2,202	5,946	5,201	9,249	49,493
Other Benefit Starts	3,980	11,218	10,210	22,408	7,855	6,172	10,664	15,236	10,174	97,917
Programmes Starts¹	49,551	73,054	78,590	310,001	70,317	40,284	85,935	103,620	78,480	901,832
Sign Offs as a Direct Result of CA Action	3,631	7,034	7,715	52,271	8,746	5,309	15,793	12,098	7,253	119,850
¹ Jobclub, business start-up, Restart course, training for work, community action, learning for work, JIG, work trials, JSS, jobplan, job review workshop, workwise.