§ 29. Mr. Bakerasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many school leavers will be seeking jobs after the end of the school year in July; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of these who will still be unemployed by Christmas.
§ Mr. John FraserIn Great Britain about 511,000 young people are likely to seek employment after the end of the school year. I cannot estimate what proportion of them will still be unemployed at Christmas.
§ 45. Mr. Kenneth Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will increase numbers of places available at training centres or through industry for school leavers who cannot get jobs at the end of this summer.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the Training Services Agency is400W taking steps to increase substantially the number of young people it maintains in training at skillcentres, colleges and employers' premises. The Training Services Agency is also discussing with the industrial training boards special measures to maintain the level of training opportunities in industry for young persons.
§ 50. Mr. Ovendenasked the Secretary of State for Employment what action he is taking to deal with the problem of unemployment amongst school leavers and other young people.
§ Mr. John FraserOfficers of the Careers Service, which is provided by local education authorities under my right hon. Friend's guidance, are currently contacting employers to identify vacancies for school leavers, and will give them all possible help in finding employment. Assistance is available to other young people who become unemployed both from the Careers Service and from the employment offices of the Employment Service Agency.
The Manpower Services Commission is giving urgent consideration to possible measures to improve employment and training opportunities for young people. and the Government have allocated £50 million to the Manpower Services Commission for the purpose of developing employment and training programmes, including those for young people, over the next two years.
§ 51. Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is (a) the latest figure for the number of school leavers who have not yet found employment and (b) the total figure of juveniles unemployed.
§ Mr. John FraserOn 9th June 1975 there were 19,425 unemployed school leavers in Great Britain. On the same date the total number of young people registered for employment at careers offices was 45,156.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his estimate of the number of summer school leavers now seeking work in Ayrshire; and what are the prospects for their quick entry into employment.
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§ Mr. John FraserJust over 3,000 school leavers in Ayrshire are expected to seek employment after the end of the summer term. It is still too early to make a reliable estimate of their prospects; but a substantial proportion have already secured jobs or are under submission to prospective employers.
§ Mr. Sillarsasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many school leavers his Department expects to employ in Scotland in the current year; and if he will give an indication of intake by job classification.
§ Mr. John FraserI regret that an estimate cannot be obtained in the time available. I will circulate such information as can be produced in theOfficial Report as soon as possible.