§ 2.41 p.m.
§ Lord SHINWELLMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government to state how many of the recent school-leavers have applied for inclusion in Government training schemes and how many are receiving training.
§ Lord JACQUESI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that applications for training from recent school-leavers numbered just over 1,900 at the end of September. Approximately 900 are already in training.
§ Lord SHINWELLMy Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that information. Is it not surprising, however, that only 1,000—I think my noble friend mentioned that figure—have applied for training and yet we are informed on reliable authority that over 100,000 school-leavers are applying for work and are unable to obtain it? Can he say whether those young people who are seeking work but are unable to obtain it receive any financial benefit from the Government or from the local authority or from any other source? Are the local authorities in the various areas interested in the distressing situation in which young people find themselves because they are unable to obtain gainful employment? What are they doing to organise young people either for the purpose of engaging in some useful work or even for purposes of recreation?
§ Lord JACQUESMy Lords, the figure I gave of applications was not 1,000 but 1,900, and of these 900 are in training. The Training Services Agency has stepped up its commitments very considerably. For example, for 1976, it expects to be training 6.000 school-leavers in Government Skill Centres. In addition, the Agency will be financing a further 30,000 young people who will be receiving training mostly in employers' establishments, but financially aided by the Agency. The Agency is fully conscious of the task that lies ahead and is doing everything in its power to see that it is handled expeditiously 874 and adequately to meet the circumstances.
§ Lord SHINWELLMy Lords, can my noble friend reply to one of my supplementary questions; namely, whether those who are unable to obtain gainful employment are receiving any financial assistance?—because there must be a severe burden on many parents who have to maintain these young people.
§ Lord JACQUESMy Lords, the recent grants which have been made for these purposes included an allocation of £20 million to the Manpower Services Commission for the extension of the training activities of the Training Services Agency; a provision of £3 million further to extend the employment transfer scheme; the extension of the temporary employment subsidy scheme to cover the whole country up to a cost of £7.5 million; the introduction of a recruitment subsidy for school-leavers at a cost of £5 million; and the allocation of £30 million to the Manpower Services Commission to establish a work creation scheme. All the 30,000 young people whom I mentioned will receive financial assistance.
§ Baroness BACONMy Lords, is it not a fact that school-leavers who are not in employment get nearly £7 a week from Social Security? Can my noble friend also explain whether the low numbers in training are due to lack of facilities or to the fact that though the facilities exist the young people are not using them?
§ Lord JACQUESMy Lords, my noble friend is quite right as regards Social Security. So far as facilities are concerned, this varies from one part of the country to another. In some areas, it is a question of needing further facilities. In other parts of the country the facilities exist but we have not the applications.
§ Baroness SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, can my noble friend say what proportion of children receiving special training are girls?
§ Lord JACQUESMy Lords, I regret I have no information on that point.
§ Lord MAYBRAY-KINGMy Lords, is my noble friend aware that this year the figure for unemployed school-leavers shocks the conscience of the nation and that he and the Government will have the 875 support of every right-minded person in helping to alleviate this terrible burden on our youngsters who have just come out of school?
§ Lord JACQUESMy Lords, I am fully aware of that and I can assure my noble friend that the Government and all those associated with them have the same strong feeling as he has.
§ Lord HANKEYMy Lords, are the Government aware that a great number of people will welcome what they have said today and that this question is of overwhelming importance not only for the school-leavers—though for them it is of particular value—but also for people who are thrown out of work in industries which are going downhill? Further, are the Government aware that a tremendous amount is being done by our industrial competitors overseas to extend training schemes so that people in, for instance, textile factories, who become unemployed, are actively trained to get jobs in other industries where the productivity is higher and the pay better? May I ask the Government to look at this question on a very broad scale and to press forward with it even more than they are doing at present?
§ Lord JACQUESMy Lords, I can assure the noble Lord that the Government take the same view as he does with regard to this problem and that they are moving as fast as they possibly can. There are about 10 different schemes through which youngsters are assisted in training. All are quite different and they are so because youngsters are different. I have been astonished at the differences in the schemes and the endeavours which are being made by the service to accommodate the greatly varying needs of so many youngsters. I can assure the whole House that we have the greatest sympathy and are making the greatest endeavours to deal with the problem.
§ Lord PANNELLMy Lords, will the Government spare some thought not only for those who are being trained but for those young people of both sexes who have been trained as teachers, who have completed their course honourably and who find that there is no chance of an engagement in the next year or two?
§ Lord JACQUESMy Lords, I feel that this is partly another question. Certainly it lies in the field of another Department. I can tell my noble friend that we have sympathy, but I do not know that I can go beyond that.