§ Mr. RooneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment on what date contract for work pilots will commence; in what areas they will be located; what will be the procedure for referring claimants to the programme; if benefit sanctions will apply for refusal to attend; and if these pilots will be linked to project work pilots. [10265]
68W
§ Mr. ForthI refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, North-East (Mr. Congdon) on 12 December 1996,Official Report, columns 316–17, for a list of potential areas. There are no plans to introduce project work in any of these areas. The contract for work pilots will begin in the spring of 1997, once tender negotiations have been completed satisfactorily. The Government's intention is that clients will be referred to the programme by the Employment Service at the first restart interview that they receive after the start of the pilot, and that, subject to the approval of Parliament, those who fail to attend without good cause will be subject to benefit sanction under the provisions of section 19 of the Jobseekers Act 1995, and regulation 69, 73 and 75 of the Jobseeker's Allowance Regulations 1996.