New Deal (Hansard, 17 February 2000)

§ 17. Mr. David Stewart
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the progress of the New Deal, specifying the total number of businesses that have participated to date. [109147]

§ Ms Jowell
The New Deal is progressing well, with 179,000 people into work through the New Deal for Young People and over 32,850 into work through the New Deal for Long Term Unemployed People by the end of November. To date 64,900 employers have signed New Deal agreements.

§ Mr. Maclean
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment for what reason information relating to whether employment is sustained is not provided in the Government's statistics concerning participants leaving the New Deal for Lone Parents to enter work; and if he will make a statement. [109275]

§ Ms Hodge
At present we are unable to say how many of the people who left the New Deal for Lone Parents for work are still in employment. If a lone parent were to leave their employment they may claim Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance (among other possible benefits). Legislation allowing the Employment Service access to DSS data on Income Support claimants has only recently been passed in the Welfare Reform and Pensions Bill. Without this information it has been impossible for the Employment Service to know if a client has ceased employment and claimed Income Support. Work to measure the sustainability of jobs entered through New Deal for Lone Parents is under way as part of the continuous improvement strategy for New Deal.
This issues is also covered in the evaluation of NDLP where a survey of lone parents (both participants and non-participants in NDLP) will take place in 2001.

§ Mr. Maclean
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proportion of those participants who had left the New Deal for Lone Parents for jobs were still in employment at the latest date for which information is available. [109278]

§ Ms Hodge
At present we are unable to say how many of the people who left New Deal for Lone Parents for work are still in employment. If a lone parent were to leave their employment they may claim Income Support or Jobseekers Allowance (among other possible benefits). Legislation allowing the Employment Service access to Department for Social Security data on Income Support claimants has only recently been passed in the Welfare Reform and Pensions Bill. We are now looking into the possibility of tracking the employment status of clients after they leave New Deal for Lone Parents. We will also cover this issue through a separate evaluation survey in 2001.

§ Mr. Maclean
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what has been the total cost of issuing letters to lone parents inviting them to participate in the New Deal for Lone Parents. [109276]

§ Ms Hodge
The total cost of issuing letters to lone parents inviting them to participate in the New Deal for Lone Parents to December 1999 is £196,498.15.
652W
The breakdown of the total cost is as follows:

£

Print costs 56,180

Initial set up costs 29,061

Postage costs 111,257.15

	£
Print costs	56,180
Initial set up costs	29,061
Postage costs	111,257.15