HC Deb 20 November 1984 vol 68 cc137-8
5. Mr. Strang

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his latest estimate of the number of young people under the age of 18 years who have been unemployed for a year or longer; and what was the comparable figure five years ago.

The Minister of State, Department of Employment (Mr. Peter Morrison)

On 11 October 1984 the number of claimants under the age of 18 years who had been unemployed for over one year was 16,830. The figure of 3,825 for October 1979 was not derived on a comparable basis.

Mr. Strang

Do the Government look upon these young people as a lost generation? When will the Minister recognise the misery and waste of mass unemployment? Is it surprising that there is such an upsurge in drug abuse and crime when many of our young people are living in communities where the vast majority have no hope of real work?

Mr. Morrison

I suspect that the hon. Gentleman does not realise there there is no reason whatever why anyone under 18 should have been long-term unemployed. Why on earth did they not go on the youth training scheme? They did not do so because the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Ms. Short) and others told them not to, yet there was no reason whatever why they should have become long-term unemployed.

Mr. Rowe

Will my hon. Friend consider making a small contribution to this important problem by negotiating with his colleague in the Department of Trade and Industry the possibility of a small revolving fund to be administered by enterprise agencies to allow suitable people under 18 to set up business on their own?

Mr. Morrison

As my hon. Friend will appreciate, my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State runs a successful enterprise allowance scheme which becomes available to young people at the age of 18. The community programme is also available when young people reach 18. Were it not for Labour boroughs such as Hackney, Islington, Tower Hamlets and Newham, which do not approve of the community programme, there would be places available for those young people.

Mr. Sheerman

Will the Minister ask the Secretary of State and the Chancellor to give the House some figures which give the real truth about youth unemployment? Will he also say why the House was misled on 30 October when 50 per cent., 60 per cent., and then 70 per cent. were quoted as the percentage of people leaving YTS this year and getting jobs? Surely misleading the House is not the sort of thing at which Ministers should become professionals?

Mr. Morrison

The hon. Gentleman will, I am sure, have read the latest outturn figures from the youth training scheme. Just under 60 per cent. are going into jobs and 13 per cent. are going into training of some sort or another. Those figures are very much better than any of the outturn figures under the youth opportunities programme. If the hon. Gentleman believes everything that Youthaid says, he is not concentrating on the real facts.