To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to his Department’s press release of 17 December 2008, on funding for advice to people who have lost their jobs, over what time period the additional 40,000 pre-employment training places will be put in place; and how many additional training places have been established at the most recent date for which information is available. (272647)

The Government’s announcement covered a £100 million package of funding to support people who are under notice of redundancy, newly redundant or close to the labour market. The unit cost will vary according to the type and duration of training that individual does undertake. We have reassessed the capacity of the funding, and estimate that we will now support around 70,000 learners through this provision. This was announced as an important part of the wider package of support being made available to help those facing redundancy. The additional places are funded through the Learning and Skills Council and will help people improve their employability skills and find work.

The Learning and Skills Council has confirmed that contracts for delivery of provision were in place at the end of April and that provision is now available across the country.

This is a new programme and data on take up is not yet available.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many pre-employment training places have been funded by his Department in each month since June 2007; and if he will make a statement. (272648)

It is vitally important that people seeking employment are able to get the help they need to overcome the skills barriers they face and improve their chances of finding sustainable work.

DIUS and DWP are working together to develop a comprehensive package of advice and training support, delivered through an integrated service supported by Job Centre Plus and the Learning and Skills Council.

That package includes advice and guidance available through nextstep and the Careers Advice Service, including a skills health check to ensure that training fits individuals' needs.

Places funded by the Adult Learner Responsive are available to learners claiming benefits. The LSC also funds training places for those with identified skills development needs. Figures for the number of places on specific programmes are broken down by academic year.

Pre-employment places were available on the Employability Skills Programme and Skills for Jobs as follows:

From April 2009, the LSC is funding two new programmes providing work-focused pre-employment training for people facing redundancy and the unemployed. Data on participation is not yet available.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of pre-employment training offered by Jobcentre Plus is funded by (a) his Department and (b) the Learning and Skills Council; and how much such funding was allocated in each quarter of the last three years. (272650)

We are not able to give the full answer to this question because the cost of training can not be distinguished from the Department of Work and Pension’s wider investment in employment provision.

Through the Learning and Skills Council, my Department funds specific pre-employment programmes aimed at helping people overcome skills barriers to employment. Those programmes are the Employability Skills Programme and Skills for Jobs and both are delivered in partnership with Jobcentre Plus.

Funding figures are available for full year spend and are as follows:

Skills for Jobs were introduced in January 2008 and have spent £18.4 million from January 2008 and end March 2009.

Two new programmes worth £183 million have recently been introduced to support more people who are newly unemployed and unemployed for six months to train and gain sustainable employment. Data on participation is not yet available.

To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which 10 occupations have the largest number of unemployed workers undertaking retraining. (274055)

[holding answer 8 May 2009]: The Department does not collect or hold this information centrally.