Jobseekers (Hansard, 11 February 2000)

§ Ms Jowell

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. Alasdair Morgan, dated February 2000: As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply direct to your question about what plans he has to review the procedures undertaken when a jobseeker fails to attend the fortnightly review of their job search at their local Jobcentre. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency. Jobseekers are required to attend their local Jobcentre each fortnight in order to show that they are continuing to satisfy the conditions for receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance. If a jobseeker fails to attend an interview they have five days to show what is termed "good cause" for not attending. If they fail to show good cause within the five day limit their claim is terminated. If a jobseeker fails to attend their interview but subsequently attends within five days, they are asked to provide their reasons for the failure to attend in writing. Their reasons are then sent to an Employment Services Decision Maker who, after obtaining any further information they may require, makes a decision as to whether the jobseeker had good cause for their failure to attend the interview. These procedures were amended slightly in October 1999 to give staff in our Jobcentres the facility to treat some circumstances as straightforward and not to have to refer the case to a Decision Maker. This new procedure will be evaluated later in the year, but there are no other plans in place to review the overall procedures. I hope this is helpful.