---

Interview Travel Expenses

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what consideration she has given to making payments to job applicants for travelling expenses when they travel distances across London, within the M25 area, to attend job interviews; and if she will make a statement. [4680]

Mr. Forth: 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 M. E. G. Fogden to Mr. Harry Cohen, dated 8 December 1995:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about travelling expenses for job applicants travelling to attend job interviews within the M25 area.
I know it can be very difficult for unemployed people to cope with the expense of getting to interviews and the Employment Service (ES) has been running a travel to interview scheme (TIS) for a number of years now to help with this. The scheme's main aim is to encourage people who have been unemployed for four or more weeks to widen their job search. It does this by helping them with travelling costs and, if necessary, overnight accommodation costs to attend job interviews outside their usual travel to work area. A few basic conditions must be met before assistance can be granted, to ensue the scheme is properly and fairly administered and gives good value for money. In the last year the ES has used TIS to help over 51,000 applicants with travelling costs totalling £1.8 m.
One of the eligibility rules is that the job interview must be beyond normal daily travelling distance of the applicant's home area. We appreciate that it is very difficult to draw the line around what constitutes "normal" daily travelling distance but we try to be fair about this. My jobcentre managers, working to broad guidelines supplied by my Head Office are authorised to decide for this purpose, what their local labour market is. The guidance given in respect of journeys around London is either 40 miles or a journey taking more than 1 hour 20 minutes. However, each application is considered individually. Factors such as distance, costs, availability of public transport and the length of time the journey takes are all checked and where any doubt exists, discretion is advised in favour of the applicant.
The scheme has recently been reviewed and my people were aware of the problem of the high transport costs around the London area. One of the changes suggested was that special consideration should be given where particularly high transport costs were involved, and that such considerations should be left to the discretion of my District or Regional offices for the reasons given earlier. The results of the review are currently under consideration
I hope this is helpful.

8 Dec 1995 : Column: 446

HOME DEPARTMENT

Fire Service Pension Scheme

Mr. Corbett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on what date and with what terms of reference the inter-departmental working group on the firemen's pension scheme was set up; and when he now expects it to publish its report. [5026]

Mr. Sackville: The review of the firefighters' pension scheme was announced in March 1994. The review group's terms of reference require it to identify ways in which the scheme could be made more comparable to other public service schemes. I hope that it will be possible to circulate a consultation document to the fire service organisations in the not too distant future.

Mr. Abiodum Igbinidu

Mr. Madden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now defer implementation of the directions to deport Mr. Abiodum Igbinidu. [4854]

Miss Widdecombe: Directions for Mr. Abiodum Igbinidu's removal on 9 December were deferred to 5 December, following representations made on his behalf.

Correspondence

Mr. Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of the Minister of State, Foreign Office, on 5 December 1995, Official Report, column 214, for what reasons the letter concerning an interview of the sponsor in the United Kingdom was sent to the Foreign Office; how long it took his Department to send the letter to the Foreign Office; and what were the reasons for the delay. [4930]

Mr. Kirkhope: The hon. Member's letter of 6 November related to an entry clearance application which had been deferred to the Home Office for further inquiries to be made to enable the entry clearance officer to make a decision. Replies to letters in these circumstances fall to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The hon. Member's letter was received in the immigration and nationality department on 13 November and was faxed to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office migration and visa correspondence unit on 1 December. I regret the delay in transferring the letter, which arose because it was not immediately recognised that it related to a deferred application.

Asylum and Immigration

Mr. Spearing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answers of 28 November 1995, Official Report, column 659 and of 4 December 1995, Official Report, column 22, concerning the bodies from which he (a) sought information or (b) had consultations with in respect of current asylum and immigration problems, if he will list such bodies in either category as can be given without incurring disproportionate costs. [4734]

8 Dec 1995 : Column: 447

Mr. Kirkhope [holding answer 7 December 1995]: I have nothing to add to the answers that I gave to the hon. Member on 28 November and 4 December.

Remand Prisoners

Mr. Alex Carlile: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many remanded prisoners in England and Wales who did not subsequently receive custodial sentences lost their homes following their remand to prison in each year since 1992; and if he will make a statement. [4310]

Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. J. Butler to Mr. Alex Carlile, dated 8 December 1995:

The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question on the numbers of remand prisoners who did not subsequently receive custodial sentences in each year since 1992 but lost their homes following their admission to prison.
The information requested is not recorded. Remand prisoners are not obliged to tell the prison authorities of difficulties in retaining accommodation and, once released, former remand prisoners are not required to maintain contact with the Prison Service or the Probation Service after release from custody.
The Prison Service's statement of principle on unconvicted prisoners, which is set out in the Prisoners' Information Book, is based on the presumption of their innocence. One of its provisions is that unconvicted prisoners will be allowed all reasonable facilities to preserve their accommodation and employment. Most prisons have staff trained in the provision of advice on housing and employment issues, and all will have a pool of such staff by next April.

Ms Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current remand population broken by (a) ethnic background and (b) gender in England and Wales. [3659]

Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Richard Tilt to Ms Janet Anderson, dated 8 December 1995:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question asking for the ethnic breakdown of the current remand population.

The information is shown in the attached table.

Remand population on 31 October 1995(15) by ethnic origin and sex, England and Wales

Ethnic origin	Total	Males	Females
White	9,292	8,910	382
Black	1,537	1,450	87
South Asian	313	308	5
Chinese and Other Asian	139	134	5
Other/unrecorded	220	200	20
Total	11,501	11,002	499

(15)Provisional figures.

Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of acquitted remand prisoners, who were in employment before their

8 Dec 1995 : Column: 448

period of custody, return to employment on their release. [3513]

Miss Widdecombe: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from A. J. Butler to Mr. Jim Cunningham dated 8 December 1995:

The Home Secretary has asked me, in the absence of the Director General from the office, to reply to your recent Question on the percentage of acquitted remand prisoners who were in employment before their period of custody and who return to employment on their release.
The information requested is not recorded. Acquitted remand prisoners are under no duty to maintain contact with the Prison Service once they are released, nor are they under the supervision of the Probation Service.
The Prison Service's statement of principle on unconvicted prisoners (which is set out in the Prisoners' Information Book) is based on the presumption of their innocence. One of its provisions is that they will be given all reasonable facilities to preserve their accommodation and employment. Most prisons have staff trained in the provision of advice on housing and employment issues, and all will have a pool of such staff by next April.

---