§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people's benefits have been withdrawn as a result of their refusal to accept any of the options on(a) the New Deal for the Young Unemployed, (b) the New Deal for over 25s and (c) the New Deal for Older Workers. [136317]
§ Ms JowellFigures for the period 1 April 1998 to 30 June 2000 show that the following benefit sanctions have been imposed for (i) refusal of a New Deal option, (ii) Leaving an option voluntarily, (iii) misconduct, (iv) failure to attend and (v) other reasons:
New Deal for young people Number of sanctions imposed Refusal of an Option 1,438 Leaving an Option Voluntarily 8,781 Misconduct 8,108 Failure to attend 12,544 Other reasons 1,280 Total 32,151
New Deal 25+ pilots Number of sanctions imposed Refusal of an Option 40 Leaving an Option Voluntarily 233 Misconduct 192 Failure to attend 1,750 Other reasons 7 Total 2,222 As the National New Deal 25+ programme and New Deal 50+ are voluntary programmes, participants are not subject to benefit sanctions.