Letter from M. E. G. Fogden to Dr. Lynne Jones, dated 18 October 1995:

The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your question about what additional resources have been allocated to the Employment Service to help people leaving Incapacity Benefit (IB).

We are keen to ensure that people no longer entitled to IB who make a claim for unemployment benefit (UB) and are given effective help with returning to work. We therefore provide a comprehensive package of additional help for them.

That help begins with the full advisory interview given to all ex-IB clients when they make their claim for UB. This interview provides the opportunity for a full discussion of the client's job goals and of the most appropriate means for achieving them.

In addition clients no longer entitled to IB are eligible for immediate entry to a number of our programmes. As a result a number of additional places on Jobplan Workshop (JPW), and Jobclub/Job Interview Guarantee (JIG) scheme are being funded, details of which are as follows.

Those people who are identified at an initial interview as needing specialist help are referred to Placing, Assessment and Counselling Teams, the number of additional places and costs are estimated as follows:

I hope this information is helpful and assures you of our intent to provide clients who were previously claiming 1B with practical advice and information which is geared to their individual needs.

I hope this is helpful.