§ 10. Mr. Flanneryasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what progress he has made in his review of education and training for 16- to 18- year-olds.
§ 24. Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what progress he has made in his review of education and training for 16- to 18- year-olds.
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe Government are taking stock of the response from outside bodies to the consultative paper issued on 5 February 1979 by the previous Administration. I am also in the course of meeting various interested parties. An announcement about the two consultative papers issued on 5 April 1979 will be made before the recess.
§ Mr. FlanneryLarge numbers of young people between the ages of 16 and 18 will be leaving school to go straight on to the scrap heap. The cost of that, although it is far less than they would receive if they were working, is great. Has the Minister given consideration to providing any inducement to those young people to stay on at school? Is he, for example, thinking out 1093 some form of educational maintenance allowance to keep the young people in education?
§ Mr. MacfarlaneThe hon. Gentleman is right to highlight some of the problems that the country will face in the next few months in this respect. We do not underestimate them. The review is being conducted by the Departments mainly concerned—the Department of Education and Science, the Department of Employment, the Scottish Office and the Welsh Office. I can give the House the assurance that there will be the fullest possible consultations before any conclusions are reached.
§ Mr. ThorntonDoes my hon. Friend agree that the problem is not confined to the 16–18 age range? Should we not be attacking it and the relevant problems of youth unemployment at a much earlier age, improving careers guidance and curriculum input from the age of about 12 or 13?
§ Mr. MacfarlaneI cannot disagree at all with my hon. Friend's comments. My right hon. and learned Friend and other Ministers are reviewing the matter very closely.
§ Mrs. Ann TaylorThe previous Government gave a commitment that every school leaver would have a job or be in training by Easter of the following year. Are the present Government willing to stand by that commitment?
§ Mr. MacfarlaneMay I first welcome the hon. Lady to her rightful position on the Opposition Front Bench? The three programmes which the previous Government announced earlier this year were acknowledged by the present Government at the earliest opportunity, soon after the general election. But the reports resulting from the various consultations that will now take place will not be acknowledged until the autumn of this year. We intend to maintain that timetable, and then we shall be in a position to report to the House.