HC Deb 19 June 1991 vol 193 cc238-9W
Mr. Atkinson

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment whether a lone parent with children below school age is eligible for employment training; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Jackson

Lone parents in receipt of income support on order books for at least 26 weeks are eligible to join the ET programme, provided that in each case the youngest child at the time of entry is in statutory full-time education. Lone parents who meet other eligibility conditions for ET can enter regardless of the age of their youngest child. Eligibility conditions are kept under regular review.

Mrs. Wise

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the current arrangements and funding for employment training for ex-offenders.

Mr. Jackson

Ex-offenders fall within the normal eligibility rules for employment training and their time spent in custody or on remand counts towards the six months unemployment eligibility condition. No special funding is provided for ex-offenders as a group.

Mr. Ronnie Campbell

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the qualifications in the north-east area that were achieved by clients for each year of employment training since its inception.

Mr. Jackson

The table gives the type of qualification or credit towards a qualification obtained by people who left employment training in the northern region between July 1989 and December 1990. Information prior to this period is not available.

Type of qualifications or credits towards qualifications gained by leavers in northern region July 1989 to December 1990
Qualification/Credit July 1989 to March 1990 per cent. April 1990 to December 1990 per cent.
City and Guilds 51 48
RSA 25 27
Pitmans 5 7
Scotvec ֵ ֵ
BTEC-TEC 2 4
GCSE 2 2
London Chamber of Commerce and Industry ֵ 1
Other 27 26

ֵ =less than 0.5 per cent.

The base used for calculating percentages is the number of trainees gaining qualifications or credits. Percentages do not total 100 because trainees may obtain more than one type of qualification or credit.

Source: ET Follow up survey.