§ Mr. Spriggsasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of school leavers who reside in the St. Helens borough council area who 46W have not had a job of any kind over a period of one, two and three years, respectively, in the St. Helens travel-to-work area.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonAt 11 December 1980 there were 606 school leavers aged 18 years and under registered as unemployed in the St. Helens employment office area who had not been in employment since completing full-time education. The statistics for school leavers do not distinguish the length of time without a job or the number who reside in the St. Helens borough council area.
The hon. Member will know that the youth opportunities programme exists to help this group and that my right hon. Friend announced a major expansion of the programme for 1981–82.