§ Mr. LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many candidates have completed New Deal for Young People in the West Sussex employment area; and how many of these(a) have taken up unsubsidised employment and (b) are still in unsubsidised employment; [134625]
(2) how many recruits to the New Deal for Young People have not completed that scheme in West Sussex in each of the last three years. [134627]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 26 October 2000]The New Deal aims to help unemployed people move as quickly as possible from welfare into unsubsidised work. The support that is given continues if the young person returns to JSA. The New Deal programme is not a fixed-length course which allows you to pinpoint when a client's participation in the programme is 'complete'.
In West Sussex Coastal Plain unit of delivery, the latest figures to August 2000 show 957 young people have started New Deal, and we know that of the 802 who have left, 421 have gained unsubsidised jobs. Of these, 317 are sustained unsubsidised jobs. We use the term 'sustained job' for those young people not returning to Jobseekers Allowance within 13 weeks of gaining a job.
Many other young people leave the New Deal programme for jobs without informing the Employment Service or maintaining any further contact. These additional jobs do not enter the official statistics.