HC Deb 22 July 1986 vol 102 cc172-4
9. Mr. Ashdown

asked the Paymaster General if he will make a statement on the number of two-year YTS places actually contracted for.

Mr. Trippier

At 1 July, the latest date for which statistics are available, contracts had been signed for 332,480 YTS places. This is nearly three quarters of the places we shall need during this year, and represents very good progress.

Mr. Ashdown

Is the Minister aware that, according to figures that have been published by the Youth Training Board, only 44 per cent. of basic places had been contracted for by May and that a full 80 per cent. were still under negotiation? Will he say how much of an improvement that is? Does he realise that there is considerable concern among larger firms that the MSC is seeking to fill the old mode B-type places, with the result that it is having to suffer considerable delays in the placements that it would like to offer? Will the Minister explain what he intends to do about this?

Mr. Trippier

I do not accept the last part of the hon. Gentleman's supplementary question, but I can update him on the first part. The latest figures show that 88 per cent. of the places that we need have been approved by AMBs. That is the definitive figure. It compares with 79 per cent. at this time last year, and that is substantial progress.

Mr. Dorrell

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the most worrying aspects of the present unemployment position is a co-existence of high rates of employment and emerging skill shortages? Does it not follow that the increased investment that the Government are making in ensuring that the training effort is more closely attuned to labour needs will in the end reduce unemployment? Is it not extraordinary that Opposition parties that claim to espouse the cause of the unemployed should be so anxious to belittle the efforts that the Government are making?

Mr. Trippier

I welcome my hon. Friend's supplementary question and I agree with every word of it. We are trying to concentrate, as he has suggested, on more work-related training with the YTS. We think that a start should be made before young people leave school. Thus, there is a good reason for pushing TVEI, which is work-related. The two schemes are complementary.

Mr. James Hamilton

Will the Minister recognise that many of the young people who have been contracted to YTS schemes are not being taught any skills? Many of them are carrying out labouring-type jobs and, as a result, many of them are disillusioned. I sent a letter yesterday to the Paymaster General setting out the case of a young person who had been contracted to a YTS scheme and who had done a labourer's job from start to finish.

Mr. Trippier

My right hon. and learned Friend the Paymaster General and I will consider the hon. Gentleman's letter. We shall study it carefully and respond as positively as we can. I think that he is wrong to suggest that young people on YTS schemes are disillusioned. The facts prove that more than 80 per cent. of those who have taken advantage of YTS places are satisfied with the training that they have received.

Mr. Lawler

Will my hon. Friend confirm the experience that I have had which is that in my constituency a significant number of young people are taking up YTS schemes voluntarily as a first option, and that others are giving up dead-end jobs, which they went into on leaving school, to go into the YTS to acquire a skill? Will he encourage the MSC to maintain the publicity campaign, which has been so successful, to counter some of the sniping criticism that comes from some Opposition Members and others?

Mr. Trippier

I welcome the last part of my hon. Friend's supplementary question. We are anxious, with the MSC much in the lead, to continue the publicity that seems to be widely welcomed throughout the country and not only by my right hon. and hon. Friends. The degree of flexibility that we have introduced to the scheme encourages youngsters who have never thought of self-employment, for example, to contemplate it. That is to be widely welcomed as well.

Mr. Sheerman

Is the Minister aware that there are serious difficulties emerging in various areas on mode B provision? Even on the April figures, 132 sponsors of mode B provision had given up, which equates to 10 to 12 per cent. of the places. Is there not a worrying tendency for inner urban area places and places that are open especially to young black people to diminish? What will the Minister do to encourage more YTS places in the inner cities and for more young blacks?

Mr. Trippier

I do not share the hon. Gentleman's concern about the premium places—not mode B places; we do not call them that. The hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Ashdown) referred only to the actual places, not to the premium places. Those figures are higher. Ninety-seven per cent. of places have been approved. Our interest is in getting youngsters on to YTS. Where a number of managing agents have been saying that their schemes are closing down, my concern has been to make sure that all the youngsters previously covered by the scheme are adequately covered by the new scheme. The figure of 97 per cent. is very impressive.