§ 3.51 p.m.
§ THE LORD PRIVY SEAL AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE (VISCOUNT HAILSHAM)My Lords, I do not know, but I think that perhaps it would be for the convenience of the House if I repeated to your Lordships a statement which my right honourable friend the Minister of Education is in process of making in another place. I will quote the statement in the actual words in which it is being made. My right honourable friend says:
"In November, 1958, my predecessor appointed a Committee under the chairmanship of Lady Albemarle to review the contribution which the Youth Service of England and Wales can make in assisting young people to play their part in the life of the community, in the light of changing social and industrial conditions and of current trends in other branches of the education service. The Committee's Report has been published as a Command Paper to-day, and was available to honourable Members"—as it will be to your Lordships—
"in the Vote Office this morning. It makes valuable and timely proposals 886 for dealing with the changing needs of young people about which Parliament has shown that it is greatly concerned. On behalf of the Government I should like to thank Lady Albermarle and her colleagues for the speed and excellence of the work they have done.
"We accept in principle all the main recommendations for Government action. The Youth Service to-day is an alliance, without adequate resources, between the Ministry of Education, the local education authorities and the voluntary youth organisations. We have therefore much to discuss with our partners before deciding precisely how to act on the Albemarle recommendations. The necessary discussions will take place urgently. The Youth Service requires more voluntary and paid workers, more buildings and facilities for sport, more money and more enthusiasm. The Government have decided that these deficiencies must be made good, though everything cannot be done at once, and the will to succeed must come from the local areas at least as much as from the centre.
"The following are the important steps that we shall take. The Committee recommended that the present strength of 700 full-time youth leaders should be increased to 1,300 by 1966. The Government will finance most of this expansion in training facilities by Exchequer grant, and I hope an emergency training college will be open by January 1, 1961. The recruitment of leaders will turn on the salaries offered and the opportunities for transfer to other careers after a period in the service. I shall ask the interested parties to examine with me how we can carry out the Committee's recommendation on this matter. The need for new buildings is urgent and in the next two years 'starts' will be authorised for building by the local authorities and voluntary organisations up to £3 million. Grants to voluntary projects will be increased. Much of the accommodation used by the Youth Service to-day is shared with other forms of educational activity; given proper design and planning this can be a considerable advantage and will be encouraged.
887 "Turning to current finance, grants will be increased for the headquarters' expenditure of the voluntary organisations and also for approved experiments in attracting young people now not using the Youth Service. Some organisations will get larger grants, others will receive grants for the first time. The Committee recommended that a Youth Service Development Council should be appointed of some 12 persons chosen for their special qualities and experience. A Council of this nature will have to work very closely with the Minister, if only because the job to be done is urgent and largely experimental. To begin with, the work will be most easily planned and executed if I take the chair of this Council myself".
That, of course, is in my right honourable friend's words.
"The Government believe that as these proposals are translated into action enthusiasm for the Service will grow. We look forward to full co-operation with the local education authorities and believe that volunteers and voluntary funds will increase on a scale that will ensure the success of the drive for expansion".
My Lords, that is the statement which has just been made by my right honourable friend.
§ 3.57 p.m.
LORD PAKENHAMMy Lords, I am sure that all of us on this side—and it may be that I am speaking for other noble Lords also—will wish to thank the Government for making the statement so early in the day in this House, as in another place. I am sure that everyone in the House will wish to join in paying tribute to the noble Lady, Lady Albemarle, and her colleagues for their devoted work. The House will remember that about a year ago we held a full debate on the Youth Service which I think was regarded as being a debate of the first importance. So far as can be traced, it was the only time that this House had ever debated the Youth Service, and I am not aware that in another place they have ever debated the subject: all of which was perhaps symptomatic of the fact that in recent years the Youth Service has not received 888 as much attention in our national thinking as was desirable. In that debate very severe criticisms were made of the handling by the authorities of the Youth Service in recent years—criticisms which, so far as I can judge after a hasty glance at the Albemarle Report, are well supported by the Report itself.
I do not think that the House or the noble Viscount will wish me to offer some hasty—and probably therefore illjudged—comments about the character of the Report. I am extremely glad to see that the Government are accepting in principle all the main recommendations. That is certainly good news; but I think it would be very premature, without having read the Report, to say that we consider it a good Report or a very good Report, though both phrases may well apply to it. I am very much obliged to the noble Viscount; I repeat our tribute to the noble Lady, Lady Albemarle, and her colleagues; and I feel sure that the House will wish to debate this historic Report at an early date.
LORD REAMy Lords, I should like to endorse everything that has fallen from the lips of the noble Lord, Lord Pakenham. We in this House are all indebted to Lady Albemarle. All who are interested in the youth movement—and, ultimately, even those who are not interested in the youth movement—will, I am sure, feel a debt of gratitude to her and her Committee. I must confess a certain interest in this matter, being connected with one of these movements, which is known as the Outward Bound Trust: but, having said that, I should like to say that I welcome the fact that money is coming along to help those trying to get this movement going. Finally, I particularly welcome the fact that the Minister himself is taking such an interest in the matter and is associating his Ministry with the progress which it is hoped will be made.
§ VISCOUNT HAILSHAMMy Lords, I should like to express my gratitude to both noble Lords for what they have said. I think that most of us who are interested in educational matters have felt for some while that the time would come for an advance in the Youth Service. That certainly was my impression as a result of the debate last year; and I am very glad that it has fallen 889 to my right honourable friend to announce that advance. I am sure that the noble Lady who is responsible for the Report will be glad to know that both noble Lords have endorsed the gratitude which has been expressed by the Government, so that she may be sure that her devoted public work is appreciated in every political quarter.