§ 8. Mr. Tim Smithasked the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received about the Manpower Services Commission proposals for the organisation of the new youth employment programme.
§ Mr. BoothThe Manpower Services Commission and I have received over 500 comments on the MSC's proposals for running the youth opportunities programme contained in its consultative document "The Next Steps". Almost half have been from local authorities. Most comments have been about the proposed structure for area boards.
§ 34. Mr. Luceasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on youth unemployment.
§ Mr. GoldingOn 13th October this year 151,068 young people were registered as unemployed at careers offices. This includes the bulk of school leavers under 18 who are unemployed. Despite 173W the encouragingly large drop in unemployment between September and October it remains a matter of grave concern to the Government that 24,675 more young people are now registered as unemployed at careers offices than in October 1976. As my right hon. Friend announced to the House on 29th June, we have asked the Manpower Services Commission to press ahead with the implementation of a new £160 million youth opportunities programme. This will be fully operational by September 1978 and provide up to 230,000 opportunities a year for unemployed young people, double the current provision. There will also be a special temporary employment programme to continue the work of the job creation programme for those aged 19 and over.
§ 38. Mr. van Straubenzeeasked the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has received from the Manpower Services Commission in relation to local control of the youth unemployment programme.
§ Mr. GoldingI have discussed with officials of the Commission the proposals set out in its document "The Next Steps" and my right hon. Friend and I met the Chairman and some members of the Commission last week to discuss the arrangements they propose for the running of the youth opportunities programme.
Unemployed Notified Vacancies (all ages) Aged 16–17 Aged 18–19 All Ages Employment Offices Careers Offices South-East … 62,334 32,719 371,293 66,553 8,473 East Anglia … 7,178 3,453 39,929 5,366 582 South-West … 19,855 9,683 115,322 9,701 953 West Midlands … 35,873 15,910 154,894 9,225 3,863 East Midlands … 17,968 8,017 88,296 10,677 1,276 Yorkshire and Humberside … 31,121 12,333 134,932 13,236 1,864 North-West … 51,833 22,841 235,678 13,585 1,135 North … 29,709 12,300 126,863 9,249 983 Wales … 18,873 9,383 91,988 6,684 454 Scotland … 37,960 16,858 194,271 16,939 1,199 The vacancy statistics relate only to vacancies notified to employment offices and careers offices and are not a measure of total vacancies. Because of possible duplication, the two series should not be added together.