§ Mr. GrantTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many unemployed claimants for the north London district of the Employment Service have(a) been issued with warning letters for not actively seeking work, (b) had their claim referred to an adjudicating officer for not actively seeking work, (c) had their claims allowed or disallowed for not actively seeking work and (d) had their claim referred to an adjudicating officer for refusing suitable employment; and how many of those in (d) have had their benefit (i) disqualified and (ii) not disqualified in each year since 1989; [828]
(2) how many employers have participated in job interview guarantee work trials in respect of the north London district of the Employment Service in each year since 1991; how many claimants have participated in such work trials; how many claimants are currently participating in work trials; and how many participants have obtained full-time employment with their work trial employer; [829]
(3) how many people have joined job clubs in each year since 1991 in respect of the north London district of the Employment Service; how many have left; how many leavers obtained jobs; what were the other outcomes of leavers broken down by (a) ethnic origin and (b) gender; and if he will make a statement; [830]
185W(4) how many unemployed people have been referred to (a) restart courses, (b) jobplan workshops, and (c) workwise courses, by Employment Service counsellors in the north London district of the Employment Service in each year since 1991; how many attended and completed the course; what were the outcomes of the participants; how many had benefit penalties imposed for (1) not attending and (2) failing to complete their attendance at the workshops or courses; and if he will make a statement; [831]
(5) if he will list the (a) gender, (b) duration of unemployment and (c) ethnic origin of those who have entered Training for Work; and if he will indicate whether they have a disability (i) in respect of (1) the North London training and enterprise council and (2) the London region and (ii) in total; [832]
(6) how many income support and unemployment benefit claimants for the north London district covering the London borough of Haringey have (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully claimed income support under the hardship rules in each year since 1989, showing those whose claim was in doubt due to (a) not actively seeking work, (b) refusing suitable employment, (c) availability for work and (d) not attending a restart course, a jobplan workshop or a workwise course; and if he will make a statement; [833]
(7) how many people have attended a restart interview in each year since 1991 in respect of the north London district of the Employment Service; and what were the results of those interviews broken down in the same way as the answer of 18 December 1990, Official Report, column 148. [834]
§ Mr. Alan HowarthResponsibility for the subject of the questions 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 Leigh Lewis to Mr. Bernie Grant, dated 4 June 1997:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions requesting various statistics about the North London District of the Employment Service. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.You asked a number of questions about our North London District and I thought it would be helpful if I answered them in turn in one reply.It may help if I first of all explain that North London District was created as part of the boundary review, which saw the introduction of the district structure to the Employment Service, in April 1994. This and the fact that we only keep information regionally for three years unfortunately means that we can only provide the material you require going back to 1994. However, I hope the data given below is helpful.I should explain that the information on number of warning letters issued to job seekers for not actively seeking employment is not recorded. It may, however, be helpful to explain that since August 1992 it has not been a requirement for warning letters to be issued in every case of inadequate job search. Since this date warning letters have only been issued if Jobcentre staff consider a job seeker genuinely not to have understood what was required of them. The number of referrals to Adjudication Officers for not Actively Seeking Employment and for Refusal of Employment have only been recorded since April this year. Prior to this only the number of decisions made were recorded.186WThe following table shows the information available in respect of Actively Seeking Employment and Refusal of Employment in our North London District since 1994.
1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Actively seeking employment Decisions made 244 413 462 Allowances 29 56 56 Disallowances 215 357 406 Refusal of employment Decisions made 47 288 247 Allowances 13 61 53 Disallowances 34 227 194
In relation to your question about Job Interview Guarantee Work Trials, it may help if I explain that Work Trials were established as a separate programme from the Job Interview Guarantee scheme in April 1993. The table below shows the number of Work Trials and subsequent job placings in the North London District since 1994. I should explain that we do not record the number of employers that participate in Work Trials, only the actual number that takes place.
Work trials 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Number of work trials 226 427 420 Number gaining employment 125 227 189 The following table shows the information on Jobclubs you requested for the North London District since April 1994. We do not record information on leavers broken down by gender and ethnic origin.
Jobclub 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Number of starts in period 6,502 5,624 3,421 Number of leavers in period 5,975 6,081 3,377 Job entries 2,746 2,237 1,069 Referred to other programmes — — 137 Other outcomes 787 842 139 Total positive outcomes 3,533 3,079 1,345
Restart 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Number of referrals 5,057 4,189 3,150 Number of starts 2,560 1,935 1,556 Number of completers 2,222 1,665 1,310 Job entries — 55 45 Referred to other programmes — 531 421 Other outcomes — 124 143 Total positive outcomes 532 710 609 Cases referred to BA — 358 149
Workwise 1995–96 1996–97 Number of referrals 1,005 802 Number of starts 384 246 Number of completers 284 163 Job entries 34 14 Referred to other programmes 100 90 Other outcomes 32 18 Total positive outcomes 166 122 Cases referred to BA 92 17 187W
NB: The difference between "starts" and "completers" arises because some people leave Jobplan, Restart or Workwise courses prior to completion.
The statistical data you asked for in relation to the number of people attending Restart interviews and their results are detailed in the table below. You asked for the results to be broken down in the same way as the Answer of 18 December 1990, Official Report, column 148. It may help if I explain that the range of employment and training opportunities offered has altered and increased since 1991. Training for Work has replaced the Employment Training programme, and the Enterprise Allowance scheme, has been replaced by Business Start-up. The numbers shown for Business Start-up reflect the actual number of people who have opted for self-employment whereas, under the Enterprise Allowance scheme the number of people attending a seminar was measured.It may help if I explain how the figures above are made up. In the year 1994/95 for example, 6,502 people went into Jobclubs in North London and 5,975 left of which 2,746 went into jobs and 787 into "other outcomes": ie there were 3,533 positive outcomes in total. However, it does not follow that the other 2,442 simply left Jobclubs and returned to unemployment. The Employment Service is only allowed to score as results people who leave a programme and find a job within 13 weeks of their time on the programme ending. People who have been in Jobclubs may well find jobs shortly after that, because their experience in the Jobclub has helped them improve their employability, but in such cases these would not be included in our Jobclub figures.You asked for similar information about Jobplan, Restart and Workwise courses. It may help if I explain that although we keep records of the number of referrals made to the Benefits Agency where clients fail to attend or complete courses we do not keep records on the outcome of these referrals. I should also explain that we did not keep records of the number of referrals made to the Benefits Agency in 1994/95 and that in 1996/97 we only recorded the number of referrals made up to the end of September prior to the introduction of JSA. Subject to that, the tables below show the information that you requested for the North London District since 1994. You will want to note that the Workwise programme was not introduced until April 1995.
Jobplan 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Number of referrals 10,239 6,998 5,026 Number of starts 4,866 3,124 2,371 Number of completers 4,518 2,836 2,168 Job entries — 94 146 Referred to other programmes — 1,023 707 188W
April-September 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996 IS (Gen) Reg 8(3) hardship decisions Awarded 0 0 0 0 0 11 Refused 0 0 0 0 2 3 IS (Gen) Reg 10A(2) hardship decisions Awarded 1 0 0 0 0 0 Refused 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jobplan 40 per cent, reduction n/a n/a n/a 387 235 37 20 per cent, reduction n/a n/a n/a 26 5 0 No reduction n/a n/a n/a 102 161 69 Restart 40 per cent, reduction 1 0 95 304 126 32 20 per cent, reduction 0 0 15 24 2 4 No reduction 0 0 45 65 71 29 Workwise 40 per cent, reduction n/a n/a n/a 2 61 15 20 per cent, reduction n/a n/a n/a 25 1 2 No reduction n/a n/a n/a 0 12 9 I hope this information is helpful.
Jobplan 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Other outcomes — 219 229 Total positive outcomes 1,406 1,336 1,082 Cases referred to BA — 694 303
Restart interviews 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 Number of interviews 68,201 50,031 48,090 Outcomes (a) Job placings 398 788 1,196 (b) Training for work 2,037 1,810 1,542 (c) Jobclub 6,150 4,861 2,246 (d) Restart course 2,7001 1,618 1,322 (e) Business start-up 142 29 46
You asked for details about the numbers of clients applying for Income Support under the hardship rules. It may help if I explain that this is the responsibility of the Benefits Agency, who have provided the table overleaf which provides most of the information you asked for. I understand from the Benefits Agency that they do not keep records of the number of Income Support hardship claims for clients who refused suitable employment. This information may be included in the data relating to availability for work and those not actively seeking work.When studying the table you will need to take the following points into consideration:1. Income Support (General) Regulation 8(3) relates to a person who is not treated as available for employment and the Adjudication Officer is satisfied that, unless Income Support is paid, the claimant or member of his family (if any) will suffer hardship.2. Income Support (General) Regulation 10A(2) relates to a person who is not required to be actively seeking employment and is either pregnant, or one member of a couple is pregnant, is responsible for a child or young person or receives the disability premium and the Adjudication Officer is satisfied that, unless Income Support is paid, the claimant or a member of his family (if any) will suffer hardship.3. Prior to April 1994 data was collated jointly for Restart and Jobplan.4. Information has been provided by the BA's Central Data Unit and is subject to amendment.