§ Mr. SwayneTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what additional resources he will provide to the Employment Service in Lymington and the New Forest to assist with redundancies consequent upon the reorganisation of the FACCENTA Group. [145015]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 15 January 2001]: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its Chief Executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.
Letter from Leigh Lewis to Mr. Desmond Swayne, dated January 2001:
As the Employment Service is an Executive Agency, the Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question regarding the additional resources which will be made available to the Employment Service in Lymington and the New Forest to assist with redundancies consequent upon the reorganisation of the Faccenda Group. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.The Employment Service in our London and South East Region made contact with the company immediately that these redundancies were announced on 10 January. As a result:a 'Job Shop' will be set up on the company's premises from 15 January which will provide information on available vacancies and the support available to individual employees;the employees affected will be given immediate access to Work Based Training to update their skills. They will also have immediate access to help with jobsearch and CV preparation;the local Jobcentre will offer a personal adviser service to every one of the employees affected to ensure that they can be matched against suitable vacancies prior to redundancies taking effect;information sessions for those affected will be run jointly with the Benefits Agency to provide advice and guidance about benefits and jobsearch. These seminars will be provided on-site at times convenient to the working pattern of the company.The necessary resources to provide these services will be made available from the Employment Service locally supplemented by whatever additional resources are necessary from the Employment Service's London and South East Region.In addition, the Region's Rapid Response Team, which exists to lend additional support in the case of large-scale redundancies, will be made available as necessary.I hope this is helpful.