Jobseeker's Allowance

HC Deb 11 March 1999 vol 327 cc313-4W

Mr. Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will list for (i) each of the past four years and (ii) the current year to date(a) the number of jobseeker's allowance recipients who have been interviewed and (b) the number subsequently awarded a nil benefit. [74159]

Mr. Andrew Smith

[holding answer 4 March 1999]: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its Chief Executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Leigh Lewis to Mr. Jeremy Corbyn, dated 11 March 1999:

The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your question about how many jobseekers, who receive Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), have been interviewed and how many, subsequently, had nil benefit awards. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Employment Service.

The Employment Service conducts many different types of interviews with jobseekers. These start at the new claims stage and develop as unemployment lengthens. The new jobseeker's interview is important in establishing whether jobseekers meet the labour market conditions for receiving JSA. It is normally at this stage that a Jobseeker's Agreement is drawn up and jobseekers are made aware of their responsibilities in order to receive JSA. Thereafter, entitlement to JSA is reviewed at interviews every fortnight. We also use these opportunities to offer jobseekers further advice and help in their search for work. Jobseekers are also asked to attend a Restart Interview at regular six monthly intervals at which they are offered further advice and information about employment and training opportunities. Beyond this interviews may take place for a variety of other reasons.

Questions about a jobseeker's entitlement to JSA could arise at any of the interviews referred to above. In these instances, there may be a reference to an independent Adjudication Officer for a decision on benefit entitlement.

On the specific issue of nil benefit awards, since JSA was introduced in October 1996, the number of claims processed and the number of nil awards by operational year has been as follows:

	Claims processed	Nil awards
7 October 1996 to 31 March 1997	1,280,960	164,460
1 April 1997 to 31 March 1998	2,966,185	470,047
1 April 1998 to 31 January 1999	2,339,348	403,897

These figures are based primarily on information held by the JSA Payments System. The figures for the period ending 31 March 1997 include a small number of claims held on the income support computer system because they linked back to an earlier Income Support claim.

I hope this is helpful.