§ 21. Jim SheridanTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to improve co-ordination between the benefits system and the support given to people to help them find work. [19162]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownThe Employment Service and those parts of the Benefits Agency that deal with people of working age are being brought together to form Jobcentre Plus.
53 Jobcentre Plus offices have now opened, providing for the first time a fully integrated employment and benefit service. First reactions from both individual customers and employers have been overwhelmingly positive. We plan progressively to extend this integration nation-wide beginning later next year.
§ 25. Mr. SimonTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to enable those unemployed who are the hardest to help find work. [19166]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownThe range of new deals help disadvantaged groups to move from welfare into work. We are further increasing support for drug mis-users and will be exploring how we can extend that approach to other hard to help groups. We have also introduced Action Teams for Jobs and Employment Zones that, between them, have helped over 32,000 people in the most deprived areas into work.
In addition, on 28 November we announced StepUP, a new pilot programme to help people who have not been able to find a job through new deal. StepUP will provide transitional jobs lasting up to 12 months and will be the stepping stone for some of the hardest to help unemployed people to reconnect to their local labour markets.