§ Sir Ralph HowellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a progress report on the project work pilot schemes. [3285]
§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has to extend the project work pilots; and if she will make a statement. [3237]
§ Mr. ForthI am very encouraged by the results of the two current pilots of project work, which having been running since April in Hull and Medway and Maidstone. The latest information indicates that around 25 per cent. more people are leaving the unemployment register in the pilot areas than in comparable areas. Based on this encouraging evidence, the Secretary of State announced on 7 November that the project work approach was to be extended early next year to around 100,000 people in a wide range of locations in England, Scotland and Wales. The full list of areas in which the pilot will run is as follows:
Travel-to-work areas to be covered by the further pilots of the project work approach
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- Bath
- Bolton and Bury
- Bradford
- Brighton
- Bristol
- Derby
- Dudley and Sandwell
- Dundee
- Dunfermline
- Edinburgh
- Grimsby
- Hertford and Harlow
- Huddersfield
- Lanarkshire
- Leicester
- London, East and North-east
- Merthyr and Rhymney
- Neath and Port Talbot
- Norwich
- Nottingham
- Peterborough
- Portsmouth
- Preston
- South Tyneside
- Stoke
- Swansea
- Weston Super Mare
- Wigan and St. Helens
The existing pilots, in Hull and Medway and Maidstone will also continue beyond July 1997.
§ Mr. Ian McCartneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what estimate she has made of the effect of project work by April 1997 on the official count of claimant unemployed with durations of over two years in the(a) Hull travel-to-work area and (b) Medway and Maidstone travel-to-work areas; [3062]
(2) if people currently counted as having an unemployment duration of more than two years will continue to be classified as such on their return to the register direct from project work.[3063]
§ Mr. ForthThe treatment of people who claim jobseeker's allowance after a period on project work is consistent with that of people leaving training for work, or other Employment Service programmes which have involved the payment of an allowance. They will be treated as new claims for the purposes of payment of jobseeker's allowance. Those who return will continue to qualify for all ES programmes, including those for people unemployed over two years, and for training for work. The numbers of those entering and leaving project work will be made publicly available.