HC Deb 22 January 2003 vol 398 c380W
Sir. Archy Kirkwood

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many payments have been made yearly from the Adviser Discretion Fund; and how many of these payments have gone to help pay for advance childcare deposits or other childcare costs in(a) Scotland and (b) the UK. [90764]

Maria Eagle

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

Total number of Adviser Discretion Fund awards
Scotland GB1
2001 (from July) 15,205 49,819
2002 (up to November) 19,441 173,778
Total 34,646 223,597

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)2
Help with clothes purchase 52
Help with travel fares 20
Help buying tools 6
Help with training/certificates 2
Help overcoming other barriers 20
1Employment services in Northern Ireland are the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Office.
2This information cannot be broken down by country.

Source:

Jobcentre Plus