Employment (Hull) (Hansard, 22 March 1996)

§ Mr. Forth

Responsibility 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. Kevin McNamara, dated 22 March 1996: The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about an estimate of the number of people sent for jobs in Hull where the wage offered is less than unemployment-related benefits. I am sorry but we do not collect the information you have requested. It may be helpful if I explain that the Employment Service does not have a general monitoring role on pay since such matters are normally for agreement between employers and candidates applying for vacancies. Indeed whilst Jobcentres ask employers for details of wages for the vacancies being notified to them, the information may not always be available as the wage may be subject to negotiation. Furthermore, when employers are offering low wages, people in Jobcentres will advise the employers about the local prevailing rates of pay for the job and whether the wages on offer make the vacancy difficult to fill. There is a range of benefits available to help people who are in lower paid jobs. These supplement their income thus helping them to be better off in work. My local offices therefore try to make people who are concerned about taking a low paid job aware of the in-work benefits that may be available to them. It may be helpful if I briefly outline the main benefits currently available. Family Credit is payable to people who are working over 16 hours a week and have responsibility for at least one child. Disability Working Allowance is available to those who have a disability and are working over 16 hours a week. Housing Benefit is payable to help people who live in rented accommodation and Council Tax Benefit is available to those liable to pay Council Tax. These latter two benefits are also payable to unemployed people. I hope this is helpful.