HC Deb 13 January 1989 vol 144 cc784-7W
Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the total number of places so far filled on employment training schemes in each area manpower board area; what was the target number of places to be filled at this time in each area; and how many of these places in each area were filled by transfers from the community programme.

Mr. Nicholls

Information on the number of filled places in each area manpower board area is not readily available but the following table gives this information for each training agency area office area. I am not able to supply information on the Training Agency's estimated profile of filled places as this figure is for internal management purposes only and is not normally published.

I am afraid that I cannot give reliable information on the number of places in each area filled by those people transferring from the community programme. However, in September and October a national total of about 6,000 people transferred from the community programme to employment training, so the numbers in any area are not likely to be large.

Area Office Filled Places as at:
30 September 1988 28 October 1988 25 November 1988 16 November 1988
London south 389 431 614 613
London west 248 431 631 758
South West Region
Avon 484 642 1,037 1,230
Devon and Cornwall 1,627 2,209 2,939 3,535
Dorset and Somerset 598 876 1,058 1,273
Gloucester and Wiltshire 278 539 708 797
West Midlands Region
Birmingham and Solihull 1,228 2,086 2,998 3,555
Coventry and Warwickshire 551 838 1,134 1,280
Dudley and Sandwell 926 1,231 1,410 1,589
Staffordshire 769 1,296 1,748 2,051
The Marches, Hereford/Worcester 616 980 1,279 1,590
Wolverhampton and Walsall 863 1,263 1,672 1,874
East Midlands and Eastern Region
Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire 309 489 835 1,035
Derbyshire 726 1,154 1,520 1,702
Leicestershire and Northamptonshire 707 1,015 1,352 1,530
Lincolnshire 428 540 673 802
Norfolk and Suffolk 755 1,188 1,404 1,786
Nottinghamshire 973 1,318 1,785 1,929
Yorkshire and Humberside Region
Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees 1,400 1,676 2,506 2,925
Humberside 2,016 2,662 3,267 3,542
North Yorkshire and Leeds 907 1,424 2,154 2,474
Sheffield and Rotherham 1,490 2,294 3,024 3,461
Wakefield, Doncaster and Barnsley 1,561 2,126 2,913 3,389
North West Region
Cheshire 850 1,298 1,699 1,958
Cumbria 235 382 600 773
Lancashire 1,465 1,865 2,420 2,773
Central Manchester 1,346 1,809 2,372 2,500
Greater Manchester north 714 1,103 1,469 1,677
Greater Manchester east 848 1,224 1,589 1,747
Merseyside 1,210 2,197 3,264 3,889
Northern Region
Cleveland 1,520 2,247 2,984 3,444
County Durham 898 1,629 2,259 2,538
Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle 954 1,130 1,538 2,022
Sunderland, South Tyneside and Gateshead 1,053 2,063 2,886 3,538
Wales
Dyfed and West Glamorgan 944 1,518 1,943 2,283
Gwent 198 621 868 1,051
Gwynned, Clwyd and Powys 436 993 1,251 1,582
Mid and South Glamorgan 735 1,305 1,934 2,351
Scotland
Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway 451 700 1,060 1,408
Central and Fife 753 974 1,267 1,567
Glasgow City 836 1,201 1,621 2,052
Grampian and Tayside 739 1,078 1,256 1,409
Highlands and Islands 161 214 287 340
Lanarkshire 406 748 1,104 1,311
Lothian and Borders 490 992 1,558 2,005
Renfrew, Dumbarton and Argyll 525 701 942 1,197

Mr. Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what criteria are being used in assessing the quality of employment training programmes.

Mr. Nicholls

[holding answer 22 December 1988]: The criteria used in assessing quality on employment training have been published by the Training Agency in "Achieving Quality—Approved Status Criteria". Copies of the publications for both training managers and training agents have been placed in the Library.

Mr. Andrew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what provision has been made for ensuring the quality of placements with employers sub-contracted by training managers.

Mr. Nicholls

[holding answer 22 December 1988]: All training managers are required to include provisions in their contracts with sub-contractors which require those sub-contractors to meet satisfactory standards. The criteria which a training manager will have to meet to secure approved status includes a number of requirements in relation to the role of the sub-contractors they use. In addition Training Agency staff have right of access to all employment training providers and officials are already monitoring standards including those of subcontractors.

Employees in part-time1 employment as a percentage of economically active by industry sector, sex and age
Great Britain, Spring 1979, 1983 and 1987
per cent.
Men Women
Industry sector 16 to 29 30 to 44 45 to 59 60 plus All ages 16 to 29 30 to 44 45 to 59 60 plus All ages
1979
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 3 3 3 3 2.5 3 51.4 33.8 3 39.4
Production 3 3 3 10.2 1.0 8.6 37.2 31.9 58.1 25.9
Construction 3 3 3 3 0.8 3 54.4 40.6 3 37.1
Services 2.2 3 0.9 21.1 2.8 17.1 54.4 51.9 65.1 42.3
All sectors2 1.2 0.3 0.5 15.2 1.8 13.7 48.8 45.6 62.0 36.6
1983
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 3 3 3 3 3.0 3 38.0 43.0 3 36.1
Production 3 3 3 9.0 4.0 6.6 30.1 6.0 50.6 20.8
Construction 3 3 3 3 0.7 3 51.8 45.4 3 34.6
Services 5.8 0.9 1.7 17.2 3.9 19.3 49.2 49.3 62.1 39.9
All sectors2 2.9 0.5 1.0 12.7 2.3 15.2 44.0 43.5 58.8 34.4
1987
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 3 3 3 3 3.0 3 41.0 28.4 3 34.5
Production 1.6 3 3 9.0 1.3 8.2 28.7 26.3 60.7 20.3
Construction 3 3 3 3 0.7 3 49.8 44.4 3 36.9
Services 8.4 1.4 2.3 18.7 5.2 23.7 51.5 51.4 67.0 42.4
All sectors2 4.8 0.9 1.4 13.8 3.2 19.6 46.1 45.5 64.5 37.0
1 The definition of part-time is based on the respondent's own assessment, not on the numbers of hours usually wrked.
2 Includes those who did not state current or previous industry.
3 Less than 10,000 in cell, percentage based on this estimate not shown.

Mr. Patchett

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the current level of unemployment in the Barnsley, East constituency.

Mr. Lee

The information is in the Library. In November 1988, the latest available date, there were 4,039 unemployed claimants in the Barnsley, East parliamentary constituency.

Mr. Patchett

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people under the age of 21 years are currently unemployed in Barnsley, East.

Mr. Lee

Following is the available information, which is also in the Library. Unemployment figures are not available for the requested age group. However, in October 1988, the latest available date, the number of unemployed claimants aged under 20 in the Barnsley, East parliamentary constituency was 433.