APPENDIX
Letter from Rt Hon Andrew Smith MP, then Minister
of State for Employment, Welfare to Work and Equal Opportunities
and Ms Angela Eagle MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
to the Chairman of the Employment Sub-committee and the Chairman
of the Social Security Committee.
GOVERNMENT'S RESPONSE TO THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE
ON ONE
We enclose our response to the Report of the joint
inquiry by the Employment Sub-committee of the Select Committee
on Education and Employment and the Select Committee on Social
Security into ONE. It is entirely fitting that the ONE service,
where the policy is the responsibility of our two Departments
and ES and BA work in partnership with local authorities to deliver
the pilots, should itself be scrutinised as a joint endeavour
by both committees. We very much welcome the breadth of expertise
and interest you have brought to your investigation through adopting
this joint approach.
We welcome your support of the ONE pilots, and indeed
of their compulsory element. We share your view that it is vital
to provide an excellent service to our clients. We also agree
that, in order to achieve the change in culture we all want, we
will need to require people to come in for interviews. This is
not an onerous requirement, it will help people to get the help
they need. We must, however, make sure that this is applied positively
and sensitively.
ONE is central to our Welfare to Work Programme.
It aims to provide a better, integrated service to claimants and
put work at the heart of the claim-making process for everyone.
Your Report will be valuable as we roll out the pilots and we
will continue to monitor progress against your recommendations.
Andrew Smith
Angela
Eagle
4 October 1999
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