§ 24. Mr. Radiceasked the Secretary of State for Employment what plans he has to help the employment prospects of school leavers in the Northern Region.
§ 25. Mr. Kilroy-Silkasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the employment prospects of school leavers for the current year.
§ 32. Mr. Goldingasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest position with regard to the employment and vocational training position of school leavers.
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§ Mr. John FraserProspects will be helped most of all by the Government's measures to maintain the highest possible level of employment which is consistent with the need to reduce the rate of inflation.
School leavers will receive all possible help in finding employment from the careers services of local education authorities. Those in the Northern Region, as in other areas, will also benefit from the new training plans announced on 2nd July by the Manpower Services Commission, and also from further measures which are under consideration as announced in the White Paper, "The Attack on Inflation".
§ Mr. Spenceasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many school leavers there are registered as unemployed in the Thirsk and Bedale area; and how the figures compare in each year since 1970.
§ Mr. John FraserI regret that separate figures for the Thirsk and Bedale areas are not available. The following table shows information for school leavers registered at the Northallerton Careers Office, which includes Bedale throughout the period and Thirsk from 1974.
UNEMPLOYED SCHOOL LEAVERS AGED UNDER 18: NORTHALLERTON Boys Girls July 1975* … … 12 15 July 1974* … … 3 1 July 1973 … … 1 1 July 1972 … … 3 — July 1971 … … 2 4 July 1970 … … 2 — * The statistics relate to a larger area which includes Thirsk.
§ 43. Mr. Andersonasked the Secretary of State for Employment what applications will be made to the European Social Fund for aid for schemes to help unemployed school leavers.
§ Mr. John FraserI regret that separate recently made an allocation in respect of the Community Industry Scheme. In addition, applications will be made under the new scheme which is expected to be published shortly, following the decision of the Council of Ministers on 17th June to assist the employment and geographical and vocational mobility of young people 435W under 25 years of age who are unemployed or seeking employment.
§ 47. Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many school leavers in Wolverhampton have obtained apprenticeships since leaving school in July and what are the prospects for the rest.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerI regret that this information is not readily available since the regular statistics of young people placed do not define the type of employment entered. I understand that in Wolverhampton engineering apprenticeships are available in reasonable numbers but that the position in other industries is less satisfactory.
It is still too early to make reliable forecasts about general prospects, since the process of settling summer leavers into employment normally extends over the period July to November. But school leavers in Wolverhampton, as in other areas, will be helped by the special training plans announced by the Manpower Services Commission on 2nd July and by the further measures now under consideration following the undertaking given in the White Paper, "The Attack on Inflation".
§ 52. Mr. Kenneth Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will take action to increase training opportunities for young people leaving school who cannot get apprenticeship employment.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe Manpower Services Commission has announced plans to spend an additional £58.5 million over the next two years on special measures designed to combat the effects of the recession on training and employment generally. The bulk of these measures are aimed at increasing training opportunities for young people. They include the creation through a Training Award Scheme, operated by the industrial training boards, of additional craft and technician apprentice training places; special supplementary grants for employers in the construction industry, to stimulate the recruitment of apprentices; and measures to ensure that apprentices who are made redundant are able to continue their train-436W ing. The Training Opportunities Scheme is being expanded to provide training for an additional 4–5,000 unemployed school leavers and other young people in 1976. Through these measures the commission will be assisting the training of a total of some 25,000 young people.
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Employment what were the percentages of summer school leavers who were unemployed in September of each of the past five years; and what is his estimate of the percentage of summer school leavers who will be unemployed in September 1975.
§ Mr. John FraserInformation is not available in the precise form requested since statistics of unemployed school leavers do not identify the date of leaving school. The following table shows the total number of school leavers registered as unemployed in September in the years 1970–74 as a percentage of the estimated number of summer leavers in the same year:
1970 … … … … 4.7 1971 … … … … 7.7 1972 … … … … 9.4 1973 … … … … 5.0 1974 … … … … 6.4 The process of settling summer leavers into employment normally extends over the period July to November, and it is still too early to forecast reliably how many will be registered as unemployed in September this year.