HC Deb 09 July 1991 vol 194 cc764-6
4. Mr. Brandon-Bravo

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many Government training places for young people were available in (a) 1978–79 and (b) the last year for which he has figures.

Mr. Jackson

In 1978–79 there were on average about 7,000 young people receiving training in the youth opportunities programme compared with more than 300,000 now in youth training.

Mr. Brandon-Bravo

Those figures clearly show a real commitment to training. Does my hon. Friend recall that when we first gave young people a guarantee that at 16 they could have a job, a place in higher education or a place on a training scheme, the Opposition wanted young people to continue to have the option of voluntary idleness? Will my hon. Friend confirm that the Opposition and the trade unions have consistently blocked every move that the Government have ever made to provide for our young people? Will he further confirm that they have never given the kind of guarantees or brought forward the initiatives that have come from the Government Front Bench?

Mr. Jackson

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We saw an exhibition of that in the Opposition's sneering during an answer to a question about job clubs a few minutes ago. The Government have substantially increased expenditure on youth training, with positive results. Of those who complete youth training, 89 per cent. go into jobs, further education or further training, and 67 per cent. of them obtain vocational qualifications. It is time to stop knocking youth training and it would be useful if the hon. Member for Sedgefield (Mr. Blair) took this opportunity to condemn yesterday's vote at the Transport and General Workers Union to boycott youth training.

Mr. Leighton

Does the Under-Secretary of State realise that he loses all credibility when he sounds so complacent? Does he realise that yesterday the British Printing Industries Federation pulled out of youth training and that two clearing banks and many large companies, such as Mothercare, have pulled out? There is now a crisis in youth training. As I told the Minister two months ago, hundreds of young people are leaving school in the London borough of Newham and the east end of London without jobs and without youth training places. As everyone, including the local training and enterprise councils, says, we need more cash now. What will the Under-Secretary of State do about it?

Mr. Jackson

Everyone agrees that the local character of the training and enterprise councils is one of their great strengths, but clearly that constitutes some problems for training providers that are organised on a national basis, of which there are some 140. That is why the Department installed the training national providers unit which has been helping to broker the relations between the national providers and the TECs. Only 5 per cent. of the national providers, 10 out of 140, have failed to establish a new relationship with the TECs, but they are all continuing with their training. We regret losing them, but the benefits that come from the localisation of the TECs are considerable.

Mr. Harris

I welcome those figures, which show that there has been truly spectacular progress. Does my hon. Friend accept, however, that a problem is beginning to develop? Some young people are unable to obtain training, simply because they cannot find placements. The problem is especially bad in my constituency, St. Ives in west Cornwall, where young people cannot find employers to give them training. Will my hon. Friend consult the TECs about that problem, which, I fear, will worsen over the next few months?

Mr. Jackson

My hon. Friend is right, as, indeed, was the hon. Member for Newham, North-East (Mr. Leighton). We are firmly committed to the YT guarantee, although we do not yet know how many school leavers there will be or how many people will enter the programme. Placements will, obviously, be affected by the current economic situation. We are, however, keeping the position under review and we are already in contact with the TECs.

Mr. Fatchett

Was not the Under-Secretary of State's response to my hon. Friend the Member for Newham, North-East (Mr. Leighton) remarkably complacent? When large organisations, such as the British Printing Industries Federation, the Midland bank and Mothercare, are pulling out of YT schemes, should not the Government do more than simply express concern, as the hon. Gentleman did? He washed his hands of the problem. Is it not time for action and for the Under-Secretary of State to recognise the difficulties to which those employers have drawn attention? Does he appreciate that it is impossible for them to negotiate with the 82 TECs? Or is he happy to allow YT to wither on the vine as a result of the cuts that have already been made in the budget?

Mr. Jackson

That was quite a routine. If the hon. Gentleman wishes to accuse anyone of complacency, he should take account of the complacency that he is exhibiting in the face of yesterday's vote by the Transport and General Workers Union, and of his failure to take the opportunity that I offered him to dissociate himself from it. The Government are now spending £844 million on youth training. In 1979, when Labour was last in power, it spent £7.4 million. Labour Members are in no position to lecture us.

Mr. Marland

Does my hon. Friend agree that the reason for the small number of training places that were available in the late 1970s was because industry had been subjected to so many years of Labour Government? The Government of those days sought to support restrictive practices, to restrict prices and interfere with company management. Does my hon. Friend agree that the worst news on earth for any trainee would be news of the return of a Labour Government?

Mr. Jackson

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Indeed, the position was even worse than he suggested: the Labour Government paid no attention whatever to the need for youth training.