§ Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for Employment what proportion of expenditure, at the latest available date, under article 4 of the European social fund relating to the training of women has been received by the United Kingdom; how this compares with West Germany and France; and what action he proposes to increase the United Kingdom share.
§ Mr. GummerArticle 4 of the social fund includes schemes for young people, migrant workers and their families, people leaving agriculture and workers in the textile and clothing industries, all of which are open to both men and women without discrimination.
In 1982, West Germany's share of article 4 allocations was only 9 per cent., France's 23 per cent. and the United Kingdom's 39.5 per cent. Men and women in the United Kingdom are therefore the major beneficiaries from article 4 as a whole.
A relatively small section of article 4—about 3 per cent. of the social fund's overall budget—is specifically concerned with single sex training for women aged over 25. Of this small budget, the United Kingdom receives only 5 per cent., although the Department submits to the social fund all eligible applications. West Germany's share of 57 per cent. and France's of 23 per cent. are more than counterbalanced by the United Kingdom's overall 215W receipts from article 4 funding, and in addition in 1982 the United Kingdom was allocated £165 million for article 5 projects. We estimate that about a third of United Kingdom beneficiaries from the fund as a whole are women.