§ Mr. Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what research his Department has completed, commissioned or co-operated in which estimates the take-up of Access to Work grants in each of the last five years. [130755]
§ Ms Hodge[holding answer 17 July 2000]: Responsibility for the subject of this question has been delegated to the Employment Service under its Chief Executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Richard Foster to Mr. Andrew George, dated 18 July 2000:
As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked Leigh Lewis to reply to your question regarding what research his Department has completed, 129W commissioned or co-operated in which estimates the take up of Access to Work grants in each of the last five years. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to Mr Lewis as Chief Executive of the Agency. I am replying in his absence.The Employment Service commissioned independent research into Access to Work in 1996 and 1998. On both occasions the research focused on a wide range of issues within Access to Work including types of disability, age and gender of applicant, employment type, time taken to provide support and general satisfaction with the programme. Copies of both research reports have been placed in the libraries and their titles are; The Access to Work Programme - A Survey of Recipients, Employers, Employment Service Managers and Staff, the Social & Community Planning Research 1996; and Evaluation of Access to Work, the Institute for Employment Studies, 1998.Neither report was commissioned to look specifically into the take up and spend of the Access to Work programme but we do collect management information that gives us this information. The table shows you how many disabled people have been helped and how much has been spent through Access to Work between April 1995 and March 2000.
Year Number of beneficiaries Total spend (£ million) 1999–2000 20,729 24.3 1998–99 16,094 19.5 1997–98 12,825 14.6 1996–97 10,119 12.5 1995–96 13,577 19.9 I hope this is helpful.