§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what action he is taking to reduce unemployment in Coventry; and what(a) job creation schemes and (b) training schemes he will initiate;
(2) what measures he proposes to tackle long-term unemployment in Coventry.
§ Miss WiddecombeResponsibility for the subject of the questions has been delegated to the Employment334W Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from R. M. Phillips to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 9 March 1995:
The Secretary of State for Employment has asked me, in the absence of the Chief Executive, to reply to your questions about the action being taken to reduce unemployment in Coventry, in particular, the measures to combat long-term unemployment through job creations schemes and training initiatives.Claimant unemployment in the Coventry local authority area has fallen by nearly 22% in the twelve months to January. This was the greatest percentage reduction of any authority area in the whole of the West Midlands region. The number of long-term unemployed for the Coventry local authority area also fell by 25%, the second largest fall amongst all regional authority areas.The number of employer vacancies notified to Jobcentres in the same area increased by 41.8% for the twelve month period ending January. This too was the largest increase in notified vacancies for any authority area in the West Midlands region. I can also report that Coventry, and the Warwickshire county, have been allocated £22.54m from the Single Regeneration Budget, calculated to lead to the creation and preservation of 2,600 new jobs, and the provision of 1,950 training places. Over 60% of funds allocated will go towards establishing projects for disadvantaged areas and groups in Coventry.The Employment Service (ES) actively markets and delivers its programmes and services to unemployed jobseekers, especially disadvantaged groups and the long-term unemployed, as part of its Annual Performance Agreement with the Department of Employment. In the eleven months up to February, the ES in Coventry placed 3,318 long-term unemployed people into jobs, and 1,765 people on the adult vocational Training-for-Work programme. All unemployed people who do not manage to find work within 13 weeks of their date of registration, are given a personal interview with an experienced employment adviser, where efforts to find work are reviewed and options for getting back to work, including vocational training, are explored. There are a number of active employment measures, including Job Plan Workshops, Jobclubs, Work Trials, and the Job Interview Guarantee scheme, which operate in the Coventry area, aimed specifically at long-term unemployed.Two years ago, an Enterprise and Advice Centre was set up in Coventry, Hillfields, to encourage local residents to access training and education opportunities. The centre is a local partnership initiative between the ES, Training and Enterprise Council, Careers Service, Jobclubs and other community based organisations. In the three months up to February, the centre assisted over 1,200 local people.There are also several local projects aimed at equipping ethnic minority and other disadvantaged groups with the skills needed to access training, education and job opportunities. Again, these partnership projects are funded centrally, but managed and delivered locally through community "outreach" facilities to ensure training and access provision is targeted at, and available to disadvantaged groups in areas of high and long-term unemployment.From April, Coventry will pilot a new employer recruitment subsidy scheme known as Workstart. This initiative, which will run for a year, is designed to test the effectiveness of encouraging employers to recruit people unemployed for two years or more by paying them a subsidy.With regard to more general recruitment in Coventry, Barclays Bank is creating between 500-1000 new jobs for its national telephone banking headquarters—BarclayCall, in the Walsgrave area of the city. The ES is already assisting Barclays with its vacancy filling by delivering job preparation courses for prospective employees and have so far placed 50 clients into jobs, 31% of whom were long-term unemployed jobseekers.I hope you will find this labour market information about the Coventry area helpful.
§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of public funds devoted to reducing unemployment are devoted to the long-term unemployed.
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§ Miss WiddecombeThe Department's forecast expenditure for 1994–95 is £3.7 billion. Of this, some £1 billion is directed specifically to helping long-term unemployed people. This includes £693 million on training for work in England and around £300 million for the range of assistance offered by the Employment Service, such as community action, jobclubs, jobplan workshops and restart.
In addition, the Department plans to spend some £95 million more over the next three years on the measures to help long-term unemployed people find work, such as jobmatch, workstart and work trials. These measures were announced by my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget statement on 29 November 1994, Official Report, column 1079.