§ Lord Balnielasked the Minister of Labour whether he will ensure that youth employment officers are given special training for their work with educationally subnormal and maladjusted school leavers.
§ Mr. GodberExisting training courses for youth employment officers include instruction in assessing the occupational significance of physical and mental handicaps when advising and placing young people. I am considering whether any further training should be arranged for youth employment officers who specialise 121W in work among handicapped young people.
§ Lord Balnielasked the Minister of Labour whether he will set up residential vocational guidance centres for educationally subnormal and maladjusted school leavers prior to their entering employment, in particular by adapting an existing industrial rehabilitation unit for this purpose.
§ Mr. GodberThe question of residential vocational guidance centres is one of the matters which will be considered in the interdepartmental examination which is to be made of the recommendations of the Working Party of the British Council for Rehabilitation of the Disabled on problems of the handicapped school leaver.
§ Lord Balnielasked the Minister of Labour how many of the educationally subnormal or maladjusted school leavers who left school during the past five years are in employment.
§ Mr. GodberI regret that this information is not available.
§ Lord Balnielasked the Minister of Labour whether he will extend the youth employment service to cover young people up to and including the age of 21 years who have been ascertained as educationally subnormal or maladjusted.
§ Mr. GodberIt would not be practicable to extend the present age limits of the youth employment service to cover particular classes of young people. The disablement resettlement services of my Department are available to handicapped young people up to and beyond the age of 21.