§ 18. Mrs. GilroyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the New Deal for Lone Parents. [99360]
§ Ms HodgeThe programme is working well. Since October 1998, 93,690 lone parents have voluntarily agreed to have at least an initial interview with a personal adviser and 89 per cent. of those have agreed to participate further. 23,000 have found jobs.
§ 19. Mr. LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the destination of those young people in Sussex who have completed the New Deal programme without securing long-term employment. [99361]
§ Ms JowellWe know that over 1,100 young people left New Deal in Sussex for sustained work. Over 750 did not tell the Employment Service their reason for leaving but a recent survey suggests that over half of them will have found work. A further 850 left for a variety of destinations including education, training and sickness or other benefits.
§ 20. Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much has been spent on all aspects of promotion of the New Deal. [99362]
§ Ms JowellA sum of £19,657,565 has been spent on promoting New Deal to employers and unemployed people. This has resulted in high levels of awareness of New Deal and positive attitudes towards it among employers and unemployed people. It helped ensure that large numbers of employers offered good quality job vacancies to those on New Deal and it demonstrably improved the motivation of unemployed people.
§ 34. Mr. GapesTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the progress of the New Deal for the unemployed. [99377]
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§ Ms JowellThe New Deal for young unemployed people continues to make good progress towards our manifesto target of moving 250,000 young people into work, which we expect to meet next year. By the end of September 1999 over 155,500 young people had found work through the New Deal, and more than 101,000 young people had benefited from training or work experience.
§ Ms KeebleTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps the Government are taking to improve access to financial services for people on the New Deal. [99345]
§ Mr. BlunkettI am pleased that earlier this year we signed an agreement with the Royal Bank of Scotland that allows New Deal participants easier access to banking facilities. I expect other banks will follow this lead.
§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will estimate the level of staff turnover among personal advisers in the New Deal programme since its inception in(a) the United Kingdom, (b) Greater London and (c) Leaside District; and if he will make a statement. [99641]
§ Ms JowellInformation relating to the job title of Employment Service employees is not held on our central HR Information System. The estimation of the level of staff turnover for personal advisers would therefore be at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. BurdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on his Department's plans for the development of the New Deal for those over 25 years. [99357]
§ Ms JowellWe have set aside £100 million next year to enhance the existing New Deal for long term unemployed people aged 25 and over. Building on this, and to give every unemployed adult the best possible chance of finding a job, we will introduce a strengthened package of help for unemployed people aged 25 and over from April 2001, which will include a range of enhanced, work focused and high quality options for all participants.