School Leavers (Hansard, 1 August 1972)

§ 4. Mr. Ewing
asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many Scottish school leavers who left school in 1970 are still unemployed; and what are the figures for 1971 and to the nearest available date in 1972.

§ The Minister of State, Department of Employment (Mr. R. Chichester-Clark)
Eight thousand one hundred and seventy-five school leavers were registered as unemployed in Scotland in July, 1972. I regret that the statistics do not distinguish these separately by year of leaving.

§ Mr. Ewing
That reply hardly relates to the Question. I asked how many school leavers registered as unemployed in 1970 had never had a job and still do not have one. It is becoming an irritating habit of the hon. Gentleman's Department to give replies which do not relate to the Questions. The number of school leavers who have never had a job since leaving school in June is a national disgrace in Scotland.

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. The hon. Member is not entitled to comment. He may only ask a question.

§ Mr. Chichester-Clark
Youth employment officers would have this information but they are scattered throughout the country and there are large numbers of them to ask. The nearest we can get to measuring continuing unemployment among school leavers—which is serious—is that this year the increase was considerably less than in the corresponding period last year, which is an improvement.

§ Mr. James Hamilton
Would not the hon. Gentleman agree that this is a dastardly situation? Because of the lack of job opportunities in Scotland, many of those who left school last summer have not found their first job, and most of them, when they do find employment, will find themselves in dead end jobs. When are the Government going to do something about the unemployment situation?

§ Mr. Chichester-Clark
I take the problem as seriously as any I can think of in the Department's work. As well as the general economic measures which have been announced by the Government, the Department has agreed to meet half the cost of further apprenticeship award schemes run by the engineering and construction industry training boards in 1972–73 and has asked other boards to consider similar schemes. The Department is also prepared to provide limited skilled training courses for young people where necessary.

Mr. Edward Taylor
One of our major problems in Scotland is the difficulty of young people finding office employment in the cities. As part of the reason for this is the fact that nationalised industries are closing down offices in Scotland and centralising their activities in the South, may I ask my hon. Friend to have a word with the nationalised industries and the Government Departments concerned to ensure that jobs are fairly spread throughout Britain?

§ Mr. Chichester-Clark
My hon. Friend makes a point which I should very much like to see quantified.

§ Mr. Ewing
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. In view of the complacent and disgraceful answer, I beg to give notice that I shall seek to raise the matter on the Adjournment at the earliest possible opportunity.

§ 12 Mr. O'Halloran
asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied with the services provided by his Department to help find work for the school leavers in the greater London area; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Dudley Smith
In July there were 350 school leavers registered as unemployed in the greater London area. Responsibility for the provision of the Youth Employment Service in this area rests with the local education authorities and I am satisfied that the careers officers of these authorities are doing all they can to help school leavers find jobs.

§ Mr. O'Halloran
I am grateful to the Under-Secretary for that reply. Is he aware that unemployment amongst school leavers in London is twice as high as normal and is not improving? What Government action is in mind?

§ Mr. Smith
I do not think this is as serious as the hon. Gentleman suggests. There are over three vacancies for every unemployed young person in London. The position is markedly better in London than it is in Britain as a whole. I believe that the situation will go on improving and that the vast majority of school leavers this year will have obtained jobs within the next two or three months.