§ Mr. Fosterasked the Secretary of State for Employment when the Manpower Services Commission special programmes board will publish its suggested proposals for a broad framework of a cluster of related jobs, skills and occupations with respect to the youth opportunities programme.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonSuch proposals will be considered on their merits in improving the content of the142W youth opportunities programme. They will play their part in the overall effort to improve the quality of the programme.
§ Mr. Fosterasked the Secretary of State for Employment what percentage of youth opportunities programme participants had (a) no qualifications, (b) CSE, (c) at least one O-level, (d) more than five O-levels and (e) A-level passes in (i) the United Kingdom, (ii) the Northern region, and (iii) the Bishop Auckland constituency for the latest available date and for each year since the programme's inception.
§ Mr. Peter Morrison[pursuant to his reply, 20 May 1981, c. 70–1]: Annual surveys are made of the educational qualifications of young people entering the youth opportunities programme. The sample in all cases is not large enough to be reliable below national level. During the first two years of the programme, about 50 per cent. of the entrants had no qualifications, and a further 25 per cent. had CSEs below grade 1. Some 20 per cent. of entrants had between one and four O-levels, and 5 per cent. had five or more O-levels and A-levels. The results of the most recent survey are not yet available.