§ Mr. Goldingasked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he intends to take to deal with unemployment of young people aged between 19 to 25 years.
§ Mr. Jim Lester, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 11 June 1979; Vol. 968, c. 78] gave the following answer:
231WThe employment prospects of young people are dependent on national and local economic factors. The Government intend to create a climate in which there will be more secure and wealth-creating jobs, by removing the barriers to enterprise, reforming taxation and providing employers and others with the incentive to succeed.
We shall continue to operate the special employment measures but some of them will in future be concentrated on areas where unemployment is particularly high. The special temporary employment programme, which gives particular priority to those aged 19 to 24 who have been unemployed for more than six months and to those aged 25 and over unemployed for over 12 months, will in future be concentrated on the special development areas, development areas and inner city areas, and the Manpower Services Commission will be seeking to provide a higher proportion of places under the programme to the priority groups.
Scheme Date of inception Date of count Applicstions approved Jobs involved Estimated cost £000's Temporary employment subsidy … 18 May 1975 31 May 1979 63 4,228 3,380 Temporary employment subsidy (supplement). 30 March 1977 31 May 1979 16 2,244 440 Short time working compensation—textile, clothing and footwear sectors. 15 May 1978 31 May 1979 5 244 41 Temporary short time working compensation. 1 April 1978 31 May 1979 0 0 0 Job release scheme … … … 1 January 1977 30 May 1979 n.a. 520 660 Small firms employment subsidy … 1 July 1978 * 30 April 1979 55 251 123 Recruitment subsidy for school leavers … 13 October 1975 30 September 1976† n.a. 93 17 Youth employment subsidy … … 1 October 1976 31 March 1978† n.a. 76 10 n.a.=Not available. * Date on which SFES was extended to cover Blakburn. †Closing date of scheme.