Written question asked by Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 24 November 1998, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 30 November 1998. It was answered by Andrew Smith (Labour) on Monday, 30 November 1998 on behalf of the Department for Education and Employment.

Dept for Education and Employment

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the Employment Service's failure to meet its target for 1997-98 for placing people on Training for Work. - Includes figures.

Answer: Mr. Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the reasons for the Employment Service's failure to meet its target for 1997-98 for placing people on Training for Work. [61075] Mr. Andrew Smith: The Employment Service (ES) placed 130,600 people on training for work in 1997-98, against a target of 150,000 placings. The assumptions on which the target was based proved mistaken in two respects. Training for Work employed status starts (which did not count towards the ES target) and direct recruitment by TECs/LECs were both higher than planned. This reduced the ability of the ES to meet its target. However, the ES share of non-employed Training for Work starts, as 81 per cent., met the Government's expectations. Overall, the Government's target of 180,000 Training for Work starts in England was exceeded, with over 183,000 starts being achieved. This achievement would not have been possible without the strong support given to TECs/LECs by the ES.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 61075; 321 c62W
Session: 1998-99
Subjects: Employment schemes Recruitment Standards Training Training for work Employment Service
Contains statistics: Yes