School Leavers (Hansard, 14 June 1977)

§ 1. Mr. Tim Renton
asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his latest estimate of employment prospects for those leaving school this summer.

§ 4. Mr. Silvester
asked the Secretary of State for Employment what are the estimated figures of school leavers who will be available for employment at the end of the current school year.

§ 15. Mr. Forman
asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a further statement on youth unemployment.

§ 16. Mr. Bryan Davies
asked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to increase employment and training opportunities for school leavers.

§ 17. Mr. Madden
asked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the report, prepared by the Manpower Services Commission, on measures to combat unemployment, particularly of young people.

§ The Minister of State, Department of Employment (Mr. Harold Walker)
It is estimated that 634,000 Easter and summer-term leavers will be seeking employment this year compared with about 616,000 in 1976. It would appear that the Easter leavers have fared better than was generally anticipated. Of an expected 69,000 leavers, a little over one quarter—about 19,000—registered as unemployed. Of these, between 6,000 and 7,000 entered employment or training within four weeks. This indicates that about 80 per cent. of the Easter leavers are now in employment or training.
However, it is too early to try to make a prediction about the employment prospects of the summer school leavers. Their placing is normally spread over a period of several months. The Government are at present considering the Manpower Services Commission's report "Young People and Work", and a statement to the House about this will be made by my right hon. Friend as soon as possible.

§ Mr. Renton
Is not that almost exactly the same answer as the Secretary of State gave to the House on 3rd May? Is it not time that he ceased considering the Manpower Services Commission's report and brought it before the House so that we can debate it? Will the Minister say whether he expects the number of unemployed school leavers to top the 150,000 figure during the course of the summer?

§ Mr. Walker
It would be foolish of me to try to make such predictions. As for the report, it is less than a month since it was published and the House had a full debate about it a week after its publication.

§ Mr. Davies
Will my hon. Friend understand that while many of us will give our full support to the early implementation of many of the recommendations of the Manpower Services Commission's report, we are nevertheless disturbed at the possibility that education beyond the age of 16 will be reserved for the better-off and the more able while 203 training alone will be reserved for those who are less able and less well off?

§ Mr. Walker
I am sure that that point of view will not be lost on my right hon. Friend and on the Secretary of State for Education and Science. We are receiving views on the report but—if I may disagree with the point of view expressed by my hon. Friend—it is important that we should recognise that a large number of those who are finding difficulty in securing employment, and who are aged between 16 and 18, are the less able who need special assistance by way of training. Their needs will not be neglected.

§ Mr. Silvester
What steps do the Government now propose for continuing the training of those who are likely to be unemployed in the skills for which the need will be most felt when the economy turns upward again?

§ Mr. Walker
I am sure the hon. Gentleman knows that a substantial part of the effort that has been put into the special measures has been aimed at that point. That is absolutely right. We must have skilled manpower in training now because it will be needed when the economy expands. There are acute shortages of skilled manpower in some areas, and there will be more if we do not take such steps.

§ Mr. Madden
Does my hon. Friend agree that the present situation of youth unemployment is most serious and that the seriousness will deepen later this year and remain into the 1980s? In view of the fact that the future of many of the schemes must be determined by the end of the month, will the Government respond to the Holland Report before the end of the month in order to allay the anxiety that is in the minds of those who are responsible for the present schemes?

§ Mr. Walker
The whole House shares my hon. Friend's concern about the high and serious level of unemployment among young people and the difficulties that face us during the immediate future. However, my hon. Friend is not right in the assumption that some of the schemes expire at the end of the month. Only the job release scheme will expire, and the remainder will continue until the end of Angust. We shall try to give a firm policy response to the Holland Report by the end of the 204 month, and we hope that we shall be in a position to do so by then.

§ Mr. Forman
In view of the importance of training and retraining in dealing with our structural unemployment problems and the special contribution that can be made by TOPS centres such as the one at Waddon in my constituency, may we have an assurance that the Government will do more to expand TOPS schemes to help to cope with this difficult problem?

§ Mr. Walker
I can give the hon. Gentleman that assurance and point out the dramatic expansion of TOPS schemes that has already taken place. In 1974 TOPS training was given to about 40,000 people. By 1975 the figure had increased to 60,000. In the past year it was 90,000, and the target figure for next year and subsequently is about 100,000.

§ Mr. Kilroy-Silk
Does my hon. Friend realise that there is a terrifying despair among school leavers on Merseyside and that unless action is taken quickly this will not be dissipated? Will he ask his right hon. Friend to lean on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to reflate the economy and on the Secretary of State for Industry to bring more work to Merseyside to deal with what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State described two months ago as a terrifying and urgent problem?

§ Mr. Walker
My hon. Friend is not exaggerating the seriousness of the problem on Merseyside. I can give him the assurance that the Government are keenly aware of it and are desperately anxious to do what we can to help. In replying to our debate before the recess, I stressed the importance of our economy and all Western economies moving as quickly as possible out of recession into a period of fast growth.

§ Mr. Steen
Does the hon. Gentleman agree with the view expressed at the weekend by the Chairman of the Manpower Services Commission that unemployment among young people will get far worse? What is the Minister going to do about it?

§ Mr. Walker
The Chairman of the Manpower Services Commission was reflecting what is already contained in the Holland Report, whose proposals were a 205 response to this situation. We are trying to reach a conclusion on the report and to give a speedy response to the House. I hope that we shall be able to do so by the end of the month.

§ Mr. Hayhoe
Does the hon. Gentleman recognise the urgency that is felt about this matter in all quarters of the House, and, if so, will he be more forthcoming about the Government's intentions? Is he aware that saying that he will make a statement as soon as possible when this may be after the end of the month is not good enough and that the House would welcome an assurance that we shall get a statement responding positively to the Holland Report no later than the end of next week?

§ Mr. Walker
We owe it to the various outside interests to give them an opportunity of expressing their views on the Holland Report and for those views to be taken fully into account before the Government reach a firm conclusion. I can assure those who have expressed views that they will be taken seriously, as will the views expressed in our recent debate, and we shall respond as quickly as possible. I say for the third time that I hope that we shall be able to make a statement by the end of the month.

§ Mrs. Bain
Is the hon. Gentleman aware that Scotland, which has 9.3 per cent. of the British working population, has 19.9 per cent. of the unemployment in the under-18 age group? Is he aware that much of this is a direct result of the Government's policy of cutting back public expenditure? Will he, therefore, use all his influence with the Cabinet to ensure that adequate funds are channelled into organisations such as the Scottish Development Agency so that permanent jobs may be created in our communities and not just temporary jobs, the provision of which merely postpones the evil day?

§ Mr. Walker
I do not entirely accept the hon. Lady's arithmetic, but I understand her point about the seriousness of youth unemployment in Scotland as much as anywhere else. The SDA is the responsibility of the Department of Industry and not of my Department. I have to say to the hon. Lady that it does not help young unemployed people for her to make political points attributing responsibility to the Government. It was recognised in 206 our debate that most industrialised countries face the same problem, and in some of them it is even worse.