§ Lord Evans of Parksideasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many vacancies registered at Jobcentres in the United Kingdom there are for (a) women over 25; and (b) women aged 25 and under, and how many there are in both categories by parliamentary constituency.
§ The Minister of State, Department for Education and Employment (Baroness Blackstone)Responsibility for the subject of this question has been148WA delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its Chief Executive, Mr. Leigh Lewis. The agency has been asked to respond to your question, and its reply is attached.
Letter to Lord Evans of Parkside from the Chief Executive of the Employment Service, Mr. Leigh Lewis, dated 22 December 1997.
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about the number of vacancies registered at Jobcentres in the United Kingdom for women under and over the age of 25 respectively. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
I ought to say first that we do not keep statistics on the number of vacancies registered at Jobcentres in the format you have requested. Apart from the permitted exceptions under the Sex Discrimination Act 1976, jobseekers can apply, irrespective of their gender, for any of the job vacancies held at Jobcentres. Overall, since the beginning of April 1997, over 1.6 million vacancies have been registered with Jobcentres.
As far as age requirements are concerned, the Employment Service has a long established policy which is that Jobcentres should challenge age restrictions placed on job vacancies and seek to persuade employers to consider jobseekers on their merits regardless of age.
I am sorry I am unable to provide the specific information you required but I hope this clarifies the position.