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DEFENCE
Armed Services (Redundancies)
Mr. Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service men and women were made redundant in the armed services in each year since 1992; and if he will make a statement. [1884]
Dr. John Reid: I will write to the hon. Member.
Departmental Computer Systems
Mr. Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to ensure that his Department's computer systems will be millennium compliant; and if he will make a statement. [1252]
Mr. Spellar: Since early last year the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been embarked on a programme to tackle the Year 2000 problem across all aspects of Defence, from routine support systems through to front line operational equipment.
My Department is managing its Year 2000 programme under the auspices of guidelines set by the Cabinet Office IT Unit (CITU) and is working closely with the Government Centre for Information Systems (CCTA) as a member of its Year 2000 Public Sector Group. Guidance which details the actions that need to be taken has been made widely available within the Department. All candidate systems are being surveyed and any necessary corrective action is being planned/undertaken. To ensure that suitable skilled resources are available without delay, "enabling" contracts have been placed with a number of companies.
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An MOD Steering Committee has been established to oversee the programme with representation covering the breadth of the Department. In addition, a central help desk is operating successfully and an extensive awareness campaign is being mounted across my Department, with the aim of engaging the commitment of everyone in ensuring that all Defence systems are Year 2000 compliant before the 31 December, 1999.
Dr. Brand:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of the homes owned by his Department on the Isle of Wight are currently empty. [1773]
Mr. Spellar:
My Department has just one house on the Isle of Wight and this is underleased from Annington Homes Ltd. The house is presently occupied.
Unemployment (Young People)
Mr. Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is his policy towards unemployed young people; and what will be the maximum period of being out of education and training yet seeking work which will not count as unemployment. [1646]
Mr. Alan Howarth: Our policy is to help young people gain the skills and experience they need to enable them to find and sustain employment.
The precise way in which measures of unemployment and labour market activity should be treated as the subject of public consultation by the Office for National Statistics.
Unemployment Benefit Disqualifications
Mr. Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many unemployed claimants for the north London district of the Employment Service have (a) been issued with warning letters for not actively seeking work, (b) had their claim referred to an adjudicating officer for not actively seeking work, (c) had their claims allowed or disallowed for not actively seeking work and (d) had their claim referred to an adjudicating officer for refusing suitable employment; and how many of those in (d) have had their benefit (i) disqualified and (ii) not disqualified in each year since 1989; [828]
- (2) how many employers have participated in job interview guarantee work trials in respect of the north London district of the Employment Service in each year since 1991; how many claimants have participated in such work trials; how many claimants are currently participating in work trials; and how many participants have obtained full-time employment with their work trial employer; [829]
(3) how many people have joined job clubs in each year since 1991 in respect of the north London district of the Employment Service; how many have left; how many leavers obtained jobs; what were the other outcomes of leavers broken down by (a) ethnic origin and (b) gender; and if he will make a statement; [830]
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(4) how many unemployed people have been referred to (a) restart courses, (b) jobplan workshops, and (c) workwise courses, by Employment Service counsellors in the north London district of the Employment Service in each year since 1991; how many attended and completed the course; what were the outcomes of the participants; how many had benefit penalties imposed for (1) not attending and (2) failing to complete their attendance at the workshops or courses; and if he will make a statement; [831]
(5) if he will list the (a) gender, (b) duration of unemployment and (c) ethnic origin of those who have entered Training for Work; and if he will indicate whether they have a disability (i) in respect of (1) the North London training and enterprise council and (2) the London region and (ii) in total; [832]
(6) how many income support and unemployment benefit claimants for the north London district covering the London borough of Haringey have (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully claimed income support under the hardship rules in each year since 1989, showing those whose claim was in doubt due to (a) not actively seeking work, (b) refusing suitable employment, (c) availability for work and (d) not attending a restart course, a jobplan workshop or a workwise course; and if he will make a statement; [833]
(7) how many people have attended a restart interview in each year since 1991 in respect of the north London district of the Employment Service; and what were the results of those interviews broken down in the same way as the answer of 18 December 1990, Official Report, column 148. [834]
Mr. Alan Howarth: Responsibility for the subject of the questions 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 Leigh Lewis to Mr. Bernie Grant, dated 4 June 1997:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions requesting various statistics about the North London District of the Employment Service. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of the Agency.
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You asked a number of questions about our North London District and I thought it would be helpful if I answered them in turn in one reply.
It may help if I first of all explain that North London District was created as part of the boundary review, which saw the introduction of the district structure to the Employment Service, in April 1994. This and the fact that we only keep information regionally for three years unfortunately means that we can only provide the material you require going back to 1994. However, I hope the data given below is helpful.
I should explain that the information on number of warning letters issued to job seekers for not actively seeking employment is not recorded. It may, however, be helpful to explain that since August 1992 it has not been a requirement for warning letters to be issued in every case of inadequate job search. Since this date warning letters have only been issued if Jobcentre staff consider a job seeker genuinely not to have understood what was required of them. The number of referrals to Adjudication Officers for not Actively Seeking Employment and for Refusal of Employment have only been recorded since April this year. Prior to this only the number of decisions made were recorded.
The following table shows the information available in respect of Actively Seeking Employment and Refusal of Employment in our North London District since 1994.
| 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actively seeking employment | |||
| Decisions made | 244 | 413 | 462 |
| Allowances | 29 | 56 | 56 |
| Disallowances | 215 | 357 | 406 |
| Refusal of employment | |||
| Decisions made | 47 | 288 | 247 |
| Allowances | 13 | 61 | 53 |
| Disallowances | 34 | 227 | 194 |
| Work trials | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of work trials | 226 | 427 | 420 |
| Number gaining employment | 125 | 227 | 189 |
| Jobclub | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of starts in period | 6,502 | 5,624 | 3,421 |
| Number of leavers in period | 5,975 | 6,081 | 3,377 |
| Job entries | 2,746 | 2,237 | 1,069 |
| Referred to other programmes | -- | -- | 137 |
| Other outcomes | 787 | 842 | 139 |
| Total positive outcomes | 3,533 | 3,079 | 1,345 |
| Restart | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of referrals | 5,057 | 4,189 | 3,150 |
| Number of starts | 2,560 | 1,935 | 1,556 |
| Number of completers | 2,222 | 1,665 | 1,310 |
| Job entries | -- | 55 | 45 |
| Referred to other programmes | -- | 531 | 421 |
| Other outcomes | -- | 124 | 143 |
| Total positive outcomes | 532 | 710 | 609 |
| Cases referred to BA | -- | 358 | 149 |
| Workwise | 1995-96 | 1996-97 |
|---|---|---|
| Number of referrals | 1,005 | 802 |
| Number of starts | 384 | 246 |
| Number of completers | 284 | 163 |
| Job entries | 34 | 14 |
| Referred to other programmes | 100 | 90 |
| Other outcomes | 32 | 18 |
| Total positive outcomes | 166 | 122 |
| Cases referred to BA | 92 | 17 |
NB: The difference between "starts" and "completers" arises because some people leave Jobplan, Restart or Workwise courses prior to completion.
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The statistical data you asked for in relation to the number of people attending Restart interviews and their results are detailed in the table below. You asked for the results to be broken down in the same way as the Answer of 18 December 1990, Official Report, column 148. It may help if I explain that the range of employment and training opportunities offered has altered and increased since 1991. Training for Work has replaced the Employment Training programme, and the Enterprise Allowance scheme, has been replaced by Business Start-up. The numbers shown for Business Start-up reflect the actual number of people who have opted for self-employment whereas, under the Enterprise Allowance scheme the number of people attending a seminar was measured.
It may help if I explain how the figures above are made up. In the year 1994/95 for example, 6,502 people went into Jobclubs in North London and 5,975 left of which 2,746 went into jobs and 787 into "other outcomes": ie there were 3,533 positive outcomes in total. However, it does not follow that the other 2,442 simply left Jobclubs and returned to unemployment. The Employment Service is only allowed to score as results people who leave a programme and find a job within 13 weeks of their time on the programme ending. People who have been in Jobclubs may well find jobs shortly after that, because their experience in the Jobclub has helped them improve their employability, but in such cases these would not be included in our Jobclub figures.
You asked for similar information about Jobplan, Restart and Workwise courses. It may help if I explain that although we keep records of the number of referrals made to the Benefits Agency where clients fail to attend or complete courses we do not keep records on the outcome of these referrals. I should also explain that we did not keep records of the number of referrals made to the Benefits Agency in 1994/95 and that in 1996/97 we only recorded the number of referrals made up to the end of September prior to the introduction of JSA. Subject to that, the tables below show the information that you requested for the North London District since 1994. You will want to note that the Workwise programme was not introduced until April 1995.
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| Restart interviews | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of interviews | 68,201 | 50,031 | 48,090 |
| Outcomes | |||
| (a) Job placings | 398 | 788 | 1,196 |
| (b) Training for work | 2,037 | 1,810 | 1,542 |
| (c) Jobclub | 6,150 | 4,861 | 2,246 |
| (d) Restart course | 2,7001 | 1,618 | 1,322 |
| (e) Business start-up | 142 | 29 | 46 |
When studying the table you will need to take the following points into consideration: 1. Income Support (General) Regulation 8(3) relates to a person who is not treated as available for employment and the Adjudication Officer is satisfied that, unless Income Support is paid, the claimant or member of his family (if any) will suffer hardship. 2. Income Support (General) Regulation 10A(2) relates to a person who is not required to be actively seeking employment and is either pregnant, or one member of a couple is pregnant, is responsible for a child or young person or receives the disability premium and the Adjudication Officer is satisfied that, unless Income Support is paid, the claimant or a member of his family (if any) will suffer hardship. 3. Prior to April 1994 data was collated jointly for Restart and Jobplan. 4. Information has been provided by the BA's Central Data Unit and is subject to amendment.
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| 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | April-September 1996 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IS (Gen) Reg 8(3) hardship decisions | ||||||
| Awarded | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Refused | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| IS (Gen) Reg 10A(2) hardship decisions | ||||||
| Awarded | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Refused | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jobplan | ||||||
| 40 per cent. reduction | n/a | n/a | n/a | 387 | 235 | 37 |
| 20 per cent. reduction | n/a | n/a | n/a | 26 | 5 | 0 |
| No reduction | n/a | n/a | n/a | 102 | 161 | 69 |
| Restart | ||||||
| 40 per cent. reduction | 1 | 0 | 95 | 304 | 126 | 32 |
| 20 per cent. reduction | 0 | 0 | 15 | 24 | 2 | 4 |
| No reduction | 0 | 0 | 45 | 65 | 71 | 29 |
| Workwise | ||||||
| 40 per cent. reduction | n/a | n/a | n/a | 2 | 61 | 15 |
| 20 per cent. reduction | n/a | n/a | n/a | 25 | 1 | 2 |
| No reduction | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0 | 12 | 9 |
I hope this information is helpful.
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