Executive Job Clubs (Hansard, 9 July 1996)

§ Mr. Forth

Responsibility for the subject of the questions 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 Mike Fogden to Mr. Barry Sheerman, dated 9 July 1996: As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions to him about Jobclubs. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency. The Employment Service currently maintains a network of 1,197 Jobclubs throughout the country. This will provide places for around 204,000 unemployed people during 1996/97. This includes a number of specialist Jobclubs for particular groups of people including a number catering for the needs of unemployed executive and professional job seekers. There are currently 121 such which constitute some 10% of the total network. The performance of all Jobclubs is assessed on a regular basis to provide information which will improve the effectiveness of the Employment Service in helping unemployed people back into work. Management information is collected monthly and is used to monitor the operation of each Jobclub and the programme as a whole. The latest national information shows that in 1995/96 just over 95,500 people were placed into jobs following participation in a Jobclub. Jobclubs contributed almost 15% towards the placing into work of long term unemployed people achieved by the Employment 111W Service. In addition a further 24,300 Jobclub participants took up other opportunities such as training places or starting their own business. Although regular evaluations of the programme have been carried out, none of these have specifically focused on executive Jobclubs. The criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness of Jobclubs include their success in getting people into work, whether they improve the flow of information on jobs to participants and whether participants' job search is increased. Details of the evaluations can be obtained through the House of Commons library. I hope this is helpful.