§ Mr. Frank FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the value of the grant paid to the executive jobclub in Wirral; how many people use the service; what is the success rate of service users in finding jobs after leaving the club; what is the current budget for this financial year; and what is the projected budget for the next two financial years. [21231]
§ 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 Mike Fogden to Mr. Frank Field, dated 20 March 1996:
The Secretary of State for Education and Employment has asked me to reply to your written question about payments made to the organisation running the Wirral Executive Jobclub, and the projected budgets for the Jobclub for the next two financial years.The Employment Service (ES) has, for a number of years, awarded commercial contracts, after tendering, to external organisations and companies to run its programmes to assist unemployed people. The programmes and contractual agreements are regularly reviewed and monitored locally by ES staff.Jobclubs have proved very successful since they were introduced over ten years ago, and the Wirral Executive Jobclub opened in October 1994, with both morning and afternoon sessions.During the period April 1995 to February 1996, 277 people have used both sessions of the Wirral Executive Jobclub, resulting in 122 job placings. However, performance has declined in the second half of the year in both Jobclubs. In the period April to October 1995, 79 job placings were achieved by the Jobclubs, compared with 43 for the period November 1995 to February 1996. Total positive outcomes including job placings and training have shown a similar decline from 103 for the period April to October 1995 to 53 for the period November 1995 to February 1996. The ES does not track clients after they have left Jobclubs, so it is not possible to say how many enter employment after leaving.As financial renumeration is a commercial matter between the ES and its programme providers, I am unable to provide details for the Wirral Executive Jobclub. However, the total Jobclub budget allocation for the Wirral ES District for the 1995/96 financial year is £383,102. Projected budgets for Es programmes for the 1996/97 and 1997/98 financial years have not been finalised.I hope this is helpful.