HC Deb 06 January 2003 vol 397 cc1-2W
Mr. Heald

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 27 November 2002,official Report, column 316W, on the adviser discretion fund, how many persons have received payments from the fund; how many payments have been made (a) in total and (b) broken down by month; how many persons have received (i) more than one payment, (ii) more than two payments and (iii) more than three payments from the fund; what the value is of payments from the fund, (A) in total and (B) broken down by month; what the average payment from the fund to date is; if he will list the types of goods and services purchased from the funds, indicating how many payments have been used to purchase each type of goods and service; if he will place in the Library a summary of the records referred to in his answer; and if he will make a statement. [88511]

Mr. Nicholas Brown

The adviser discretion fund was introduced to give personal advisers more flexibility in the help they can offer their New Deal clients. Over 71,200 people have moved into work after receiving help from the fund. We are building on this success by extending access to the fund to people who have been claiming benefits for six months or more.

Information on the number and value of awards made through the adviser discretion fund since its introduction in July 2001 is in the table.

Number of awards Value of awards (£)
2001
July 4,331 215,216
August 7,086 399,327
September 8,821 525,822
October 9,594 565,114
November 12,327 787,215
December 7,660 491,621
2002
January 11,524 693,955
February 13,432 783,235
March 19,242 1,226,270
April 15,562 1,254,727
May 21,014 1,528,999
June 15,869 1,094,076
July 16,976 1,145,953
August 17,818 1,377,355
September 18,433 1,196,375
October 15,413 1,444,183
November 8,495 617,192
Total 223,597 15,346,635

The average Adviser Discretion Fund award is £68.63.

Information on the number of people who have received payments, and the number of times they receive payments, is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. An individual can receive more than one award from the adviser discretion fund, but the total value of the awards cannot exceed £300.

Information on all the goods and services the adviser discretion fund has helped to purchase is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the following table gives information under broad headings on the type of goods and services purchased using the adviser discretion fund by people who have started work after receiving an award from the fund.

Type of goods or services purchased Proportion of the number of awards provided to people who have moved into work (percentage)
Help with clothes purchase 52
Help with travel fares 20
Help buying tools 6
Help with training/certificates 2
Help overcoming other barriers 20

Source:

Jobcentre Plus

The latest information on the number of awards made under the adviser discretion fund; their total monetary value; the number of people who have moved into work having received an award; and the type of goods and services purchased by people who have started work after receiving an award from the fund has been placed in the Library.

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