HC Deb 18 July 1984 vol 64 c228W
23. Mr. Ernie Ross

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland what specific action he is taking to assist the long-term unemployed in Scotland.

Mr. Allan Stewart

Our present economic strategy offers the best hope of a lasting improvement in employment prospects. Meanwhile many long-term unemployed people are benefiting from our range of special employment and training measures. In particular, at the end of May the community programme was giving temporary employment to 15,281 people in Scotland. As outlined in the White Paper "Training for Jobs" one of the priorities for the Manpower Services Commission in restructuring its training programmes will be to provide training at a more basic level for unemployed people.