§ Mr. Alexander W. Lyonasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will define precisely how the length of time for which young people remain in the youth opportunities programme is to be reduced.
§ Mr. Jim Lester,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 19 July 1979; Vol. 970, c.801], gave the following answer
I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that young people may remain on the youth opportunities programme for up to 12 months, as has been the case since the programme's inception. Precise information on how long young people stay on the various elements of the programme is not available, but a recent survey of the four work experience elements suggests that the average duration of stay on these elements is less than had been thought hitherto. This will make for reductions in planned expenditure. In particular, it seems that young 267W people on work experience schemes on employers' premises, who account for more than half of all those in the programme, are staying, on average, for about five months rather than six.