Written question asked by Lord Mann (Labour) on Wednesday, 24 April 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 30 April 2002. It was answered by John Healey (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 April 2002 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what assessment she has made of Jobcentre Plus's capacity to support her Department's policies to improve adult literacy and numeracy skills; and what steps she is taking in conjunction with the Department of Work and Pensions to increase the number of referrals from Job Centre Plus to providers of basic learning skills.

Answer: John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of Jobcentre Plus's capacity to support her Department's policies to improve adult literacy and numeracy skills; and what steps she is taking in conjunction with the Department for Work and Pensions to increase the number of referrals from Jobcentre Plus to providers of basic learning skills. [53092] John Healey: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is working with us to implement "Skills for Life": our national strategy for improving adult literacy and numeracy skills. DWP has developed and increased Jobcentre Plus's capacity to do this, including, from April 2001, national screening for basic skills need of jobseekers and those on voluntary New Deals at the six month stage of unemployment. The impact of these changes is now being evaluated. In addition, we are examining the early results of six pilots, testing the effect of new approaches to improving the basic skills of those on jobseeker's allowance, which ran from September 2001 to March 2002. These measures, together with the continued training of Jobcentre Plus staff, will ensure that the number of referrals from Jobcentre Plus to providers of basic learning skills will continue to increase and that by working effectively across Government, we can together achieve our target of 750,000 adults with better basic skills by 2004.

Secondary information