Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees of Thomas Cook have received assistance from JobCentre Plus in Peterborough following the collapse of that company; and what support her Department is providing for that JobCentre to deal with additional workload following the collapse of that company.

Our local team in Peterborough are monitoring all new claims to benefits to identify where the claimant is a former employee of Thomas Cook so that they quickly receive the right level of support. We estimate that as of 15^th October, 159 former Thomas Cook employees have visited Peterborough Jobcentre, of which 120 have made a claim to benefits and 39 have made a general enquiry about the support available. Additional staff from neighbouring offices are working from Peterborough Jobcentre on a temporary basis to meet any increased demand on our services.

We are working with a wide range of employers to provide support to former employees of Thomas Cook. As they are part of our national portfolio we do not readily hold details on those that are operating in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire and to provide this information would incur disproportionate cost. The Department is offering a range of support to anyone affected by the closure of Thomas Cook, through our Rapid Response Service and wider DWP services. For example, a local provider is offering a series of workshops for former Thomas Cook employees to explain the range of support available to help them find a job.

Rather than providing direct financial support, our team in Peterborough have provided staff to support with the organisation and delivery of two local jobs fairs, arranged by Thomas Cook and Opportunity Peterborough. The Thomas Cook event was attended by around 850 former employees and over 100 former employees visited the DWP stand at the Opportunity Peterborough event.

Please note that the data supplied are derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.