§ Jackie BallardTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) what plans he has to extend the jobfinder's grant to people who work fewer than 30 hours a week; [58878]
(2) what plans he has to extend the jobfinder's grant to non-New Deal applicants. [58879]
§ Mr. Andrew SmithThe Jobfinder's Grant has always been available to jobseekers unemployed 2 years or more since its introduction as a national programme in April 1995.
Jobfinder's Grant is a one-off payment of a grant of £200 paid at the discretion of Employment Service Client Advisers who decide if the grant is required to help with the client's transition back to work.
240W
GCSE and GCE A level achievements in Staffordshire 1993 to 1997 (i) (a) GCSE achievements in maintained schools Grade achieved at GCSE A* A* B C D E F G U X Total 1993 Biology — 8 21 52 47 40 23 6 2 10 209 Chemistry — 7 26 30 33 12 2 2 0 0 112 Physics — 11 22 31 30 18 5 2 0 1 120 Single science — 25 61 130 257 323 358 183 84 46 1,467 Double award science — 781 1,030 1,799 1,737 1,499 999 414 126 78 8,463 Other science — 9 102 175 161 148 70 17 0 23 705 1994 Biology 2 17 24 37 55 22 12 4 2 3 178 Chemistry 6 11 23 31 26 10 3 0 0 3 113 Physics 5 17 17 22 11 20 3 0 0 1 96 Single science 2 18 54 90 227 197 108 54 30 75 855 Double award science 224 629 1,469 1,735 2,265 1,568 835 298 95 244 9,362 Other science 0 2 9 22 27 22 10 3 4 1 100 1995 Biology 2 4 15 12 15 17 7 2 3 0 77 Chemistry 0 3 11 9 7 5 2 0 1 0 38 Physics 0 5 11 7 6 6 1 1 0 0 37 Single science 1 10 59 103 191 205 135 43 26 47 820 Double award science 338 657 1,560 2,089 2,378 1,796 978 275 128 275 10,474 Other science 0 1 1 16 19 14 10 4 2 3 70 1996 Biology 7 25 48 44 26 23 6 0 0 0 179 Chemistry 4 27 35 54 27 13 6 0 1 0 167 Physics 9 23 51 38 21 13 9 0 3 0 167 Single science 2 26 91 133 247 216 135 59 26 52 987 Double award science 300 808 1,667 2,130 2,192 1,705 1,039 328 165 262 10,596 Other science 0 1 7 13 32 24 23 3 8 5 116 1997 Biology 15 42 61 36 10 10 4 1 4 1 184 Chemistry 18 41 53 37 8 4 6 0 1 0 168 Physics 16 42 54 38 10 6 3 0 0 1 170 Single science 2 12 75 68 158 135 83 34 16 28 611 Double award science 279 570 1,355 1,750 1,791 1,314 705 187 109 185 8,248 Other science 0 1 5 9 31 27 19 4 3 1 100 During 1998, eligibility was extended to all New Deal participants. Due to the range of opportunities available on New Deal 18–24 it was decided to make Jobfinder's Grant available at Employment Service District Manager discretion.
I am currently considering whether to extend the Jobfinder's Grant to people who work fewer than 30 hours per week. Indeed all Employment Service programmes and services, including Jobfinder's Grant, are constantly being evaluated to look at ways of enhancing the provision to meet unemployed jobseekers' needs in the ever changing labour market.