§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much has been spent by the Employment Service agency in producing promotional items during(a) the 1994–95 financial year, (b) in the 1995–96 financial year and (c) in the current financial year to date; what promotional items have been produced; how many of them have been produced; and what assessment he has made of the benefit of producing each of these promotional items. [6388]
§ Mr. ForthResponsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from R. D. Horne to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 28 November 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me, in the absence of the Chief Executive, to write to you about your question of 28 November concerning the production of promotional items by the Employment Service.The Employment Service undertakes a wide range of promotional activity to inform employers and jobseekers about the services it offers. These activities have included jobseeker and employer advertising campaigns, production of leaflets and posters, stands at exhibitions and conferences—where employers are informed of the benefits of using Jobcentres, and the organisation of Jobfairs where employers have the opportunity to recruit unemployed jobseekers in one place and at one time.The total marketing and promotional spend during the last three years is as follows:
£ 1994–95 3,556,921 1995–96 5,854,079 1996–971 1,854,411 1spend to end of October 1996. As there is such a diverse range of activity I am unable to give you this information in the form you have requested. I hope however that the following examples will give you an understanding of our promotional activity.During the last three years we have undertaken a number of national advertising campaigns to promote to employers and unemployed jobseekers the services offered by our Jobcentres. The total cost of these campaigns in 1994–95 was £2.45m in 1995–96 £3.62m and our spend to date for 1996–97 is £1.3m.Each of these national campaigns has involved a mix of television, radio and/or press advertising, with supporting information literature. The campaigns have been fully evaluated using independent tracking research. The research has indicated that the campaigns have been very effective in informing both employers and jobseekers of the services available.In addition to the national campaigns, a range of national, regional and local activity is undertaken to promote specific events or services. The aim is to encourage local employers to use Jobcentres and for unemployed jobseekers to be aware of the wide range of help available to them. I have enclosed two examples of leaflets that we have produced for this purpose. I have arranged for copies of these leaflets to be available in the Library. We produce each year 355W about half a million copies of the 'Just the Job' booklet which is available in Jobcentres and other advice locations. It explains the range of back to work services available to unemployed jobseekers.We also this year produced four million copies of the 'Jobseeker's Allowance—Helping you Back to Work' guide. This is available to jobseekers through Jobcentres Post Offices, Citizen Advice Bureaux and Benefit Agency Offices. The booklet tells jobseekers about the help available when looking for work and in particular the entitlement conditions for receiving the Jobseeker's Allowance.At a local level Jobcentre managers have used a variety of promotional methods, including direct mail shots to employers and adverts on the sides of buses. We also obtain a great deal of free editorial coverage in local press.We recently exhibited this year at the annual conferences of the Institute of Personnel and Development and the Confederation of British Industry. This provided us with the opportunity to explain to employers and their recruitment specialists the benefits of using Jobcentres to meet their recruitment needs.I hope that this information is helpful.