HC Deb 06 July 1976 vol 914 cc1154-5
11. Mr. Steen

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what new policies he will be pursuing as a result of the essay competition launched by his Department to gain fresh thinking from young people themselves as to the future rôle and task of his youth department and his Youth Service.

Mr. Gerry Fowler

Following the review of the Youth Service, of which this competition was a small but useful part, agreement in principle has been reached on the establishment of a representative Youth Service forum for England and Wales, to include a substantial proportion of young people under the age of 26.

Mr. Steen

The House will be most gratified to learn of the activity in the hon. Gentleman's youth department, but perhaps he has overlooked the fact that there are nearly 250,000 young people under 21 who are unemployed, for whom his Department is both irrelevant and unsympathetic? Will he set up a national community work programme to give every unemployed young person an opportunity to do something to improve the conditions of life in his community, rather than merely fiddle while young people die of boredom?

Mr. Fowler

I am not a Minister in the Department of Employment. Apart from that, as I understand the hon. Gentleman's proposal as he has described it elsewhere, he envisages an element of compulsion in community service—

Mr. Steen

No.

Mr. Fowler

—which I would not conceivably accept.