§ Mr. Ronald Brownasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied with the progress made by the Man power Services Commission in dealing with applications for schemes to be considered under the Job Creation Programme; and if he will publish in the Official Report a list showing projects submitted, date of submission and date of approval or rejection.
§ Mr. GoldingYes. The Manpower Services Commission has approved 2,383 applications since the programme started, and a further 901 have been rejected or withdrawn. To list all these with dates of submission and approval or rejection would involve excessive expenditure of staff time, but if my hon. Friend has any particular applications in mind I should be glad to provide whatever information is available.
§ Mr. Ronald Brownasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in the Official Report the criteria used by the Manpower Services Commission for evaluating schemes submitted under the Job Creation Programme; and how much money has been made available to finance approved schemes.
§ Mr. GoldingI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that the guidelines for the programme are as follows:
Projects should provide suitable work for those the project is intended to help; be work which would not otherwise be done; preferably offer training or further education opportunities; make a contribution to the enhancement of the local
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Applications Projects Sponsor Number received Total grant requested Number of manweeks Number so far approved Total grant approved Cornwall County Council 10 119,924 2,967 9 90,674 Penwith District Council 8 44,499 1,100 4 17,526 Kerrier District Council 14 84,005 2,097 7 32,623 Carrick District Council 3 13,743 313 3 13,743 Restormal District Council 3 38,559 909 3 38,559 Caradon District Council 1 5,321 120 Nil Nil North Cornwall District Council 5 54,049 902 3 11,797 Cornwall Area Health Authority 5 47,085 692 2 23,088 Restormal Borough Council 3 38,559 909 3 38,559 Cornwall Industrial Development Association 1 1,100 56 Nil Nil Bodmin Council 2 5,075 120 1 5,075 National Trust 10 45,898 892 5 24,638 Cornwall Probation and After Care Service 1 2,260 45 1 2,260 environment or assist in the solution of a community problem; not exceed 12 months in duration; be such that no long-term financial support is necessary or, where expenditure will be incurred after the MSC grant expires, the finance is assured; finish before 30th September 1977; pay the rate for the job up to a maximum set by the commission.
Sponsors should satisfy the commission that they can make adequate arrangements for the supervision of the project, including control of the spending of the MSC grant; show that resources are available to provide for those aspects of the project which will not be covered by the MSC grant; recruit all project employees through offices of the Employment Service Agency or careers service; not propose a project for personal gain; show that the consent or co-operation of all interested parties has been obtained.
£75 million has been made available for the Job Creation Programme and, up to 18th June, 2,383 projects had been approved with a total grant of £32.6 million.