National Insurance Stamps, Benefits and Retraining Laws for Self Employed?

In the Building Industry nearly everyone has to work through an agency because there aren't very many jobs on PAYE. My husband is a Carpenter and in the credit crunch there is no work, he has paid his Cl 2 (weekly stamp) and cl 4 (annual stamp - worked out on how much you earn) so you can end up paying as much as anyone else in regular employment. However, once there is no work you are first out of a job and never entitled to any benefits unlike those employed through an employer, the best you get is your weekly stamp paid (�2.40). I suggested to my husband that he spent his unemployment time learning a new trade but he's been told by the job centre he is not entitled to go on any courses because he is not on benefits of any kind. In addition he travels up to 100 miles round trip to go to interviews for non-existent jobs and no travel expenses are available. Because I work full time we cannot get anything no matter what wage I earn, but I still have to support all these fruitless journeys to jobs where they are hoping to get contracts within the next few months if things take off. One might think why bother going into the job centre every other week just to get a �2.40 stamp paid, well there is a very good reason, if he doesn't do it, he drops off the government unemployed figures, anyone think all this is deliberate to stop people from being clified unemployed? Equally, does anyone have any genuine ideas on a way ahead? We cant afford to pay for him to go to college.