§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Solicitor General how many people employed by her Department under the New Deal for Young People in each of the last four years have subsequently(a) found unsubsidised employment for more than 13 weeks and (b) returned to jobseekers' allowance or other benefits. [45091]
§ The Solicitor-GeneralMy Own Department, the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers, is a small one and the staff are all seconded from other Government Departments. It has not, therefore employed any staff under the New Deal schemes during the last four years.
In the Departments for which the Attorney General is responsible, details are as follows:
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service has not employed anyone specifically under the New Deal for Young People scheme over the last four years.
However, two people within the Young People scheme age group were employed by the Department under a general New Deal recruitment scheme. Both employees were placed on one year fixed term contracts (unsubsidised). One person was released after a couple of months, as the outcome of the pre-employment enquiries proved unsatisfactory. It is not known whether this person returned to claim jobseekers' allowance or any other benefits. The second person resigned after a year to commence a college course.
531WTreasury Solicitor's Department
The Treasury Solicitor's Department has never specifically allocated vacancies to be filled by New Deal applicants, although where the Department has recruited at Administrative Officer level and below, it has always circulated these vacancies on the New Deal Network, through the local Job Centre.
Two Support Grade Band 2s were recruited in May 2000, who were New Deal registered. These employees were offered permanent posts from the outset and therefore no subsidies were claimed.
Serious Fraud Office
The Serious Fraud Office has not employed any staff under the New Deal Schemes during the last four years.
§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Solicitor General, what recent assessment she had made of whether the PSA target to increase by March from 93 per cent. to 100 per cent. the proportion of prosecution witness expenses sent no later than 10 working days from receipt of a correctly completed claim form will be met. [47813]
§ The Solicitor General[holding answer 10 April 2002]: Information about progress on PSA targets will be published in the Law Officers' 2002 Departmental Report.