HC Deb 16 February 1996 vol 271 cc735-6W
Mr. Robert Ainsworth

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) for how many weeks of jobseeker's allowance a claimant will be eligible after a suspension period imposed on grounds of having left a previous job voluntarily; [15548]

(2) what mechanism will be used to reclaim jobseeker's allowance, paid during the adjudication period, to a claimant who is subsequently judged to have left his previous employment voluntarily and has his allowance suspended. [15557]

Mr. Forth

Provided that the jobseeker satisfied the entitlement conditions for JSA, payment of benefit will not be suspended pending an adjudication officer's decision on a question of whether a claimant left his employment voluntarily. If the adjudication officer decides that the claimant did leave his employment voluntarily without just cause, he will also decide the length of the period—at least one week, but not more than 26 weeks—for which JSA is not payable. Since any sanction will start from the week following the determination, repayment of JSA received before the decision will not be required. The claimant's period of eligibility for JSA after the sanction will depend on how long he continues to satisfy the conditions of entitlement.

Mr. Barry Field

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what requirements the jobseekers scheme will place on applicants to ensure that their appearance is suitable for the job being applied for; and what assessment she has made of the impact of these requirements on the ability of small businesses to comply with equal opportunities legislation. [15554]

Mr. Forth

To be entitled to jobseeker's allowance, a jobseeker must seek employment actively. Any act which would otherwise be considered a step in actively seeking employment will be disregarded if, by his appearance, the jobseeker undermines his prospects of securing employment, unless due to reasons beyond his control. An example of this would be where a jobseeker chose to dress for a job interview in a way which he knew would be unacceptable in that particular type of employment.

These matters relate to the conditions for jobseeker's allowance and have no bearing on the ability of any business to comply with equal opportunities legislation.