§ Mr. BerryTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to make further announcements about the structure and scope of the job retention and rehabilitation pilots; and if he will make a statement. [17259]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownThe aim of the job retention and rehabilitation pilot is to provide robust evidence about the overall impact of job retention and rehabilitation services and their cost effectiveness, and the relative impact of three intervention strategies ("boosting" help in the workplace; in health care services; and both in the workplace and through health care).
The feasibility of delivering this in practice through a "live" service to clients is currently being assessed through the three month "Feasibility Phase" of the pilot which is due to end on 18 January 2002. Nine prospective delivery organisations are being supported to fully develop, cost and submit proposals for service delivery that are fully consistent with evaluation requirements. The evaluator contracted for the feasibility phase, the National Centre for Social Research, will report on the feasibility of the pilot as a whole in the context of service delivery bids submitted to the Department.
We would expect to make an announcement on the future of the pilot, its structure and scope, after we have fully considered the outcome of the feasibility phase.