§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the main locations of the placing assessment and counselling teams which provide employment and advisory services for employers and people with disabilities in Scotland. [298]
§ Mr. ForthResponsibility 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. James Wallace, dated 22 November 1995:
187WThe Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the main locations of the Placing Assessment and Counselling Teams (PACT) in Scotland.A list of PACTs in Scotland is attached (Annex A). Orkney and Shetland are covered by the Highlands, Islands and Grampian PACT, each of which has an identified Employment Service member of staff who offers support to disabled people in Jobcentres in Kirkwall and Lerwick. In addition, full time Disability Employment Advisors based in Aberdeen visit employers and clients on the islands.I hope this is helpful.
Annex 1: PACTs—Office for Scotland Address Telephone and Fax Glasgow east, north and Tel: 0141–248 7654 Lanarkshire Fax: 0141–248 8388 Employment Service Pact 3rd Floor 221 West George Street G2 2ND Glasgow west, south, Renfrew Tel: 0141–226 4923 and Dumbarton Fax:0141–248 8312 Employment Service PACT 2nd Floor 221 West George Street Glasgow G2 2ND Edinburgh and South east Tel: 0131–229 9321 Scotland Fax:0131–221 9860 Employment Service PACT 5th Floor Torphichen Street Edinburgh EH3 8JP South west Scotland Tel: 01563 542000 Employment Service Fax: 01563 573079 PACT 17 Grange Street Kilmarnock KA1 2DF Highlands, Islands and Tel: 01463 239171 Grampian (outstation in Fax: 01463 715699 Aberdeen) Outstation Tel: 01224 622050 Employment Service Outstation Fax: 01224 630644 PACT 4th Floor Metropolitan House 31–33 Hight Street Inverness IV1 1J Central and West Lothian Tel: 01324 621444 Employment Service Fax: 01324 638968 PACT 8–14 High Street Falkirk FK1 1EY Tayside and Fife Tel: 01382 223222 Employment Service Fax: 01382 201350 PACT 132 Seagate Dundee DD12HB
§ Mr. WallaceTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what information she has on the number of people in(a) Orkney and (b) Shetland who have made contact through their local job centre with the placing assessment and counselling teams in each year since the establishment of PACTs in 1992. [299]
§ Mr. ForthResponsibility 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. James Wallace, dated 22 November 1995:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the number of people in Orkney and Shetland who have made contact through their local Jobcentre with the Placing Assessment and Counselling Teams (PACTs).188WWe do not record the number of people referred by Jobcentres to PACTs. However we do record the number of people, who need and may benefit from specialist help, who are assessed by PACTs.Assessment is the process through which PACTs help disabled job seekers identify potential occupation or training establish whether they are job-ready, or need further preparation for work. Its purpose is to identify employment potential and needs, and to come to agreement about how to meet the individual needs of clients. It is based mainly on Employment Service (ES) provision supplemented by small numbers of external contracts. An individual action plan is agreed between the client and the ES setting out what work or training a client will look for and include any preparatory action they will need to take.All clients referred to PACTs have an in-depth assessment interview or interviews with a Disability Employment Adviser (DEA). If this does not result in their being able to identify a suitable occupation or training, they may then be offered additional practical methods to help them decide. This can include functional testing, psychometric testing, an interview with an occupational psychologist or provided with enhanced assessment from specialist contractors.From the first full year after they were introduced, the number of people assessed by PACTs on Orkney and Shetland were 122 for the 12 months to April 1994 and 156 for the same period to April 1995. The number of people assessed for the first six months of the current financial year was 108. As the introduction of PACTs was a gradual process, the numbers of assessments for 1992/93 were not recorded.I hope this is helpful.