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Jobseeker’s Allowance (Skills Training Conditionality Pilot) Regulations 2010

I do not have to hand the data on the range and volume of representations that we have had, but I will certainly discuss this with officials and see whether we can provide the noble Baroness with more detail. The noble Baroness, Lady Morris of Bolton, talked about the training on offer in trial areas. To be clear, we want to maximise the take-up of the existing provision to ensure that there is a wide range of training for customers. No new training provision has been procured. The type of provision that is being offered to customers in the pilot encompasses employability skills, as we have discussed; work-focused training; short job-focused training for up to eight weeks; other job-related provision, which is available through further education and other LSC providers; ESF-funded provision; and DWP contract support. Courses will be responsive to customers’ individual needs, while suitability for those courses will be based on the training being appropriate to meet individuals’ and employers’ skills needs and being flexible enough to meet individuals’ personal circumstances—it can be part time or full time. However, customers will not be required to attend training for more hours than they are available for employment or for more hours than the total number of hours for which they are available, as recorded in their jobseeker’s agreement. The training must also be available within a reasonable period. Generally, part-time training can be completed before the customer is due to enter the next stage of the Flexible New Deal if they are still unemployed at the 12-month point in their claim. The noble Baronesses, Lady Thomas and Lady Morris, talked about the quality of training on offer. The Learning and Skills Council is responsible for managing performance in the FE sector and works closely with Ofsted, which is responsible for inspecting and reporting on the quality of all adult education and training services. The noble Baroness, Lady Morris, referred to past office closures and asked whether we were going to resource this properly. I smiled a little when that question came up, because we have debated on a number of occasions the support that the Government did not have from her Benches when we put £5 billion into capacity for Jobcentre Plus and into the programmes that have helped to address the challenges of the economic circumstances. I think that she said that we were in the midst of a recession, but she will be aware that some of the surveys out there show that there were signs of positive growth in the last quarter of last year. Just to be clear, the programme of office closures has been suspended for the time being. Past closures of customer-facing Jobcentre Plus offices took into account a range of issues, such as the impact that the closure might have on customer service and whether the work and staff could be relocated. Our customers, partner organisations, trade union staff and local Members of Parliament are fully consulted when these things are under consideration. The noble Baroness talked about the qualifications of advisers. Advisers in Jobcentre Plus IES districts are well qualified and experienced in identifying the skills that are needed and in tailoring training to meet them. They will also refer customers to the adult advancement and careers service for more in-depth analysis. The noble Baroness also talked about data sharing and data security. That is a very important point. Systems and processes are already in place to ensure that customers’ personal information between Jobcentre Plus and providers is exchanged in a secure environment in accordance with the current information risk management guidance from the Cabinet Office. I think that it was the noble Baroness who also asked about the definition of a job outcome. We are looking for sustainable job outcomes and will need to develop the evaluation strategy to reflect this. The noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, talked about the quality of training on offer. The LSC is responsible, as I said, for managing the FE sector. We will provide motivational courses to deal with customers who may be unwilling to co-operate before we move on to the main provisions. That is a route for helping people into the provision. Early evaluation indicated that customers in the IES trial areas welcomed the intervention. Many said that they had a warm and supportive relationship with their next-step advisers and appreciated receiving independent, professional, one-to-one advice. Advisers encouraged customers to think about new ideas and helped to reignite their self-belief and motivation to progress. As the trials have been running for more than 12 months and processes are in place, we are confident that these skills pilots have a good foundation on which to develop—in fact, partnerships have continued to improve despite considerable pressure on services due to the recession. I want to make it clear that the skills support can be part of the jobseeker’s agreement, but it is more likely to be included in the action plan, which I accept has an element that can be enforced, a point that the noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, was probing. He said that personal advisers need to spend time with jobseekers. We have implemented a new JSA regime, in which advisers have much greater flexibility to spend more time with jobseekers, dependent on need, from the six-month point. I am being nudged by my noble friend, so I had better move swiftly to a close. My apologies for not having covered each of the points raised, but I hope that I have been able to deal sufficiently with the issues that have been raised for noble Lords to support the Motion. I respectfully ask the noble Baroness not to press her point.