HC Deb 11 November 1998 vol 319 cc236-8W
Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what statistics he is collecting to monitor the progress of ex-offenders on the New Deal. [59174]

Mr. Andrew Smith

Information is available specifically on ex-offenders only for those entering the New Deal early. I can report that 2,294 ex-offenders have entered New Deal early. Monitoring of ex-offenders relies on clients volunteering this information.

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Members for Bath and for Hereford (Mr. Keetch) of 30 September 1998, on the education and training option under the New Deal. [59167]

Mr. Andrew Smith

I will be issuing a letter by the end of this week.

Mr. Alan Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people have found(a) subsidised and (b) unsubsidised employment under the New Deal for 18 to 25 year olds in the Tynemouth constituency to date. [59009]

Mr. Andrew Smith

The Government Statistical Service figures show, to the end of August 1998, that in the Employment Service Tyneside North Unit of Delivery, which covers the Tynemouth constituency, 62 18–24 year olds have found unsubsidised employment and 29 have started on the New Deal employment option.

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list(a) the employers currently employing New Deal trainees under the subsidised employment option and (b) for each (i) how many New Deal trainees they are employing and (ii) what percentage their New Deal trainees are of their total workforce. [59173]

Mr. Andrew Smith

Across the country, around 29,300 companies have been signed up to New Deal. The current Employment Service systems do not allow us to monitor number of starts on the Employment Option by employer. We are currently looking at setting up an employer database that will allow us to monitor New Deal information by employer.

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the number of subsidised unfilled vacancies for New Deal trainees. [59171]

Mr. Andrew Smith

Employment Service information systems cannot provide this information.

Sir Peter Lloyd

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many disabled job seekers have(a) sought help under the New Deal, (b) found suitable programmes and (c) moved on to permanent employment or longer-term training. [59078]

Mr. Andrew Smith

Government Statistical Service figures of people with disabilities show that, to the end of August 1998,(a) 19,880 have entered New Deal, (b) 360 have entered the Voluntary Sector Option, and 280 have entered the Environment Task Force Option, (c) 1,090 have moved from Gateway to the Subsidised Employment Option and 2,100 have signed-off to start unsubsidised jobs and 940 participants have entered the Full-Time Education and Training Option.

Mr. Jim Cunningham

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people have found employment through the New Deal to date(a) in total and (b) in each target group. [57143]

Mr. Andrew Smith

[holding answer 29 October 1998]: Latest figures, combining GSS figures to August with provisional management information to September, show that, since New Deal for 18–24 year olds started, over 30,000 young people have found work. Of these, 21,460 have gone into unsubsidised jobs and 9,020 have entered subsidised employment.

Figures for New Deal 25+ will be available in the Government Statistical Service's statistical First Release, which will be published in December.

No figures are available yet for the success of the New Deal for Lone Parents since its National launch on 26 October. Information from the pilot areas combined with provision for new claimants up to 25 September show 5,439 lone parents have moved into jobs or increased their hours of work.

Mr. Green

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many 18 to 24 year olds who left the New Deal for non-subsidised employment had returned to the New Deal programme by 30 September. [57871]

Mr. Andrew Smith

[holding answer 2 November 1998]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 29 October 1998, Official Report, column 230.

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list by outcome, for those delivery units for which the information is available, the numbers of young people who have left the New Deal to date. [59177]

Mr. Andrew Smith

The latest Government Statistical Service figures show that the total number of people leaving New Deal to the end of August is 32,080. Of these, 17,300 have entered unsubsidised employment, 3,470 have transferred to alternative benefits, 1,810 have gone to other known destinations. The destinations of the remaining 9,510 is unknown. Breakdowns for the 143 individual Units of Delivery can be found in the Library.

GSS statistics to the end of September will be published on 26 November.

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list the costs incurred centrally in supporting the early implementation of the New Deal for young people. [59168]

Mr. Andrew Smith

The central costs incurred by the Employment Service and DfEE to the 30 September 1998 in supporting the early stages of the introduction of New Deal amount to £45.6 million. This includes infrastructure costs, preparation and implementation costs and Marketing costs.

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