HC Deb 18 November 1996 vol 285 cc412-4W
Ms Walley

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list(a) the offices and (b) the budget allocated for the Stoke on Trent project work pilot scheme; and what are the arrangements for the local administration of the scheme. [4366]

Mr. Forth

(a) There are nine Employment Service jobcentres in the Stoke on Trent travel-to-work area. These are Stoke on Trent, Burslem, Cheadle, Hanley, Kidsgrove, Longton, Newcastle under Lyme, Leek and Uttoxeter. (b) £100 million has been allocated to operate the pilots, for up to 100,000 people across the country. The pilots will be administered by the Employment Service, through local jobcentres. The Employment Service will ensure that sufficient funds are made available in each travel-to-work area to cover the numbers entering the target group for the pilots, and the help which they accept.

Mr. Rooney

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many of those claimants referred to adjudication for refusal or failure to attend project work have(a) received a benefit sanction and (b) been adjudged to have good cause, broken down by the categories of good cause listed in the adjudication officers' guide. [4429]

Mr. Forth

In general, people whose actions fall under the categories of good cause listed in the adjudication officers' guide and in regulation 73 of the Jobseekers Allowance Regulations 1996 will be identified by a project work adviser in the local jobcentre, and not referred to an independent adjudication officer. In judging cases referred to them, sector adjudication officers are not restricted to the list referred to above, but can use their discretion to assess each case on an individual basis. To date, in every case where a sector adjudication officer has made a decision on a case referred for refusal to attend project work, a benefit sanction has been imposed. In 64 per cent. of cases where a decision has been made following referral on the grounds of failure to attend project work a benefit sanction has been imposed. The remainder of cases have been adjudged to have had a good cause.

Mr. Rooney

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the comparative areas used for evaluation of the existing project work pilot schemes and the monthly returns from April 1996 in respect of claimants leaving the register in pilot and comparative areas broken down by duration of unemployment. [4430]

Mr. Forth

The comparison offices are Fakenham, Barton on Humber, Chapeltown, Great Yarmouth, Hillsborough, Newport, Cardigan, Portsmouth, Portsmouth North, Cosham, Newhaven, and Stretford.

On the latest available verified figures, 1,418 people left the pilot and stopped claiming benefit in the pilot areas, by the end of September, while 413 people had left benefit in the control offices. All these people have been unemployed for over two years. Over 400 of those who have left the register in the pilot areas had been out of work for more than four years, compared with 94 in the control areas. Ninety-eight of those leaving in pilot areas had not worked for over six years, compared with only nine people in the control areas.

These figures apply to all those who had entered the pilot by the end of September, including many who had only just entered.

A breakdown of these figures by month produces numbers too small to allow reliable conclusions to be drawn. A report based on the monitoring information will be made available in the new year, when there is sufficient data available to allow a more in-depth analysis.

Mr. Rooney

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many of the job outcomes achieved by project work participants since inception of the scheme were(a) full-time permanent employment, (b) part-time employment, (c) self-employment and (d) temporary employment. [4431]

Mr. Forth

Early results show that 20 per cent. of those who enter the pilot find a job before they complete the process. Further information is not yet available. A detailed statistical survey is being carried out on a sample of leavers from project work and this will provide information on these, and other, issues. The results of this survey will be available at the end of 1997.