§ 31. Mr. Silvesterasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list and briefly describe, in the Official Report, the various schemes which will be in operation on 1st December 1977 for the alleviation of unemployment, indicating the body responsible for the running of the programme and its estimated gross cost in the financial year 1977–78.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe following schemes will be in operation on 1st December 1977:
The Youth Employment Subsidy.—Run by the Department of Employment. The scheme assists young people under 20 and unemployed for six months or more by offering employers a £10 per week subsidy for up to 26 weeks for every young person taken on.
The temporary employment subsidy.—Run by the Department of Employment. The scheme provides a subsidy of £20 per week for a maximum of 12 months in each case where a redundancy in a redundancy group of 10 or more is deferred. A supplement of £10 per week per worker is payable for a further six months when the temporary employment subsidy is exhausted before 31st March 1978, where jobs would otherwise still be at risk.
Small firms employment subsidy.—Run by the Department of Employment. The scheme is limited to the special development areas and provides to employers in manufacturing in the private sector with fewer than 50 employees on 29th March 1977 a subsidy of £20 per week for up to 26 weeks for each full-time new job created and maintained above the number of jobs as at 29th March.
Strengthening of careers service.—Run by the Department of Employment. There is provision for a total of 320 posts to strengthen the
464Wsigning of the Helsinki Agreement and in the latest 12-month period for which figures are available.
§ Mr. MeacherI have been asked to reply.
Following is the latest available information:
service in areas of high unemployment; the majority of these posts will not be filled by 1st December 1977.
Job release scheme.—Run by the Department of Employment. The scheme enables people employed in the assisted areas in their last year before reaching statutory pensionable age—65 for men, 60 for women—to leave their jobs, but their employers have to agree to recruit someone from the unemployed register as a consequence. A tax free allowance of £23 per week is paid to those who leave employment under the scheme.
The job creation programme.—Run by the Manpower Services Commission. Its aim is to provide full-time temporary employment on projects which benefit the community for people who would otherwise be unemployed. Wages are paid to those concerned in line with local wage levels.
The work experience programme.—Run by the MSC. Under this scheme arrangements are made with selected employers to give unemployed young people, aged 16 to 18, a realistic introduction to working life. The young people receive a weekly allowance of £16.
Work preparation courses.—Run by the Training Services Agency. Under this scheme, which is to form part of the new youth opportunities programme in 1978, the TSA supports a variety of courses open to young people between the ages of 16 to 19. These provide in the main short periods of training below craft level.
Incentive training grants.—Run by the TSA. The grants are allocated to the industrial training boards and other organisations to support the long-term training of young people in industry.
The job introduction scheme for disabled workers.—Run by the Employment Service Agency. The aim is to encourage employers to take on disabled workers for a trial period, the employer receiving a grant of £30 per week for six weeks.
Community Industry.—A permanent scheme run by the National Association of Youth 465W Clubs. Under the special measures additional funds have been made available to the scheme to provide extra places.
Costs.—It is estimated that the gross cost in the financial year 1977–78 will be about £440 million.