§ Mr. Derek FosterTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) if he will make a statement on the(a) standards and (b) enforcement of the environmental criteria for the New Deal Environmental Task Force; [29961]
(2) what steps are being taken to ensure that the Environmental Task Force option of the New Deal will offer participants work experience and training that will improve their employability. [29962]
§ Mr. Andrew SmithBids from organisations to provide work placements for 18–24 year olds on the Environment Task Force (ETF) option of the New Deal for young unemployed people are assessed against a national scoring system. The scoring system covers the quality of the proposed work placements, training and job-search activities for participants, as well as assessing projects against a set of environmental objectives developed by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). Organisations which provide ETF placements must produce a quality plan which includes specific employability and environmental objectives and measurable outcomes, as well as details of the organisation's proposed method of assessing and measuring quality. The Employment Service will monitor these arrangements, with advice from DETR and Government Offices for the Regions, as part of their annual review of the performance of contractors. An element of the organisation's placement fee will also be related to employability and environmental outcomes.