§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the funding of the Manpower Services Commission for the next financial year: and if he will give an assurance that its funds will not be reduced but increased to take account of increased unemployment and inflation.
Mr. Jim Leaster[pursuant to his reply, 25 November 1980]: Estimates for expenditure on the programmes operated by the Manpower Services Commission in 1981–82, which will take into account forecast inflation, will be laid before the House in due course. As my right hon. Friend announced on 21 November, a further £245 million—at 1980 survey prices—is to be made available in 1981–82 for special employment measures. Some £144 million of this will be devoted to special employment measures run by the MSC, in particular to the expansion of the youth opportunities programme. The MSC has been asked to find savings from its other programmes amounting to £ million in 1981–82 to offset some of the extra expenditure on special employment measures.