§ Mr. BoswellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much was spent in the past three years on publicising the Access-to-work scheme; and what assessment he has made of the take-up of opportunities for recruitment and the retention of disabled employees. [118240]
§ Ms JowellAccess-to-work is one of a number of programmes and services, provided through the Employment Service, to help disabled people get, or stay in, a job. As such, Access-to-work does not have a separate budget for publicity. During the first 10 months of the last financial year the Employment Service spent £314,000 marketing and promoting the full range of their services for disabled people and their employers. The following table shows how much was spent by the Employment Service, over the previous two financial years:
Year Amount (£) 1997–98 318,000 1998–99 388,012 The Access-to-work programme has been successful in helping an increasing number of disabled people in, or into, employment year on year. Over the current financial year we expect to help more than 23,000 disabled people through Access-to-work at a cost of nearly £26 million. This an increase of 3,000 on last year.
Furthermore, the Employment Service has, through its range of job placing services, helped over 88,500 disabled people find employment during the last financial year. In addition to this, it has helped over 4,500 disabled people retain their employment, by providing advice and support through their Disability Employment Advisers.