HC Deb 04 August 1980 vol 990 cc8-10W
Mr. Jim Callaghan

asked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what are the numbers of careers officers in the Employment Services Agency; and if he will specify where each is and the total cost;

(2) what is the total cost of the careers service as estimated in the last financial year.

Mr. Jim Lester

Careers officers are employed, not by the employment services division of the Manpower Services Commission, but by local education authorities. The number of posts for careers officers in each authority in England at 1 April 1980 was as follows:

CAREERS OFFICER POSTS IN ENGLAND (INCLUDING UNEMPLOYMENT SPECIALISTS)
Local Education Authority Careers Officers
Avon 51½
Barking 12
Barnet 13
Barnsley 16
Bedfordshire 29
Berkshire 41
Bexley 11
Birmingham 71
Bolton 15
Bradford 32
Brent 26
Bromley 14
Buckinghamshire 29
Bury 11
Calderdale 8
Cambridgeshire 33
Cheshire 55
Cleveland 45
Cornwall 20
Coventry 32
Croydon 18
Cumbria 25
Derbyshire 46
Devon 50
Doncaster 23
Dorset 31
Dudley 14
Durham 38
Ealing 18
East Sussex 33½
Enfield 13
Essex 62
Gateshead 19
Gloucestershire 27½
Hampshire 78
Haringey 17
Harrow 13
Havering 18
Hereford and Worcester 36
Hertfordshire 53
Hillingdon 15
Hounslow 13
Humberside 55
Inner London Education Authority 190½
Isle of Wight 7
Kent 77
Kingston Upon Thames 5
Kirklees 20
Knowsley 18
Lancashire 74½
Leeds 42
Leicestershire 48½
Lincolnshire 29
Liverpool 44
Manchester 40
Merton 8
Local Education Authority Careers Officers
Newcastle Upon Tyne 33
Norfolk 28
Northamptonshire 28
North Tyneside 16
Northumberland 19
North Yorkshire 34
Nottinghamshire 57
Oldham 11
Oxfordshire 29
Redbridge 14
Richmond Upon Thames 8
Rochdale 13
Rotherham 16
St. Helens 15
Salford 18
Shropshire 26
Sandwell 23
Sefton 21
Sheffield 47
Solihull 13
Somerset 25½
South Tyneside 15
Staffordshire 53½
Stockport 17
Suffolk 29
Sunderland 31
Surrey 51
Sutton 7
Tameside 15
Trafford 14
Wakefield 21
Walsall 21
Waltham Forest 12
Warwickshire 29
West Sussex 24
Wigan 21
Wiltshire 32
Wirral 22
Woverhampton 27
Newham 16
TOTAL (England) 2,836

In addition, there were 2,555 posts for support staff (employment assistants and clerical staff) and 101 posts for supernumerary trainee careers officers.

The latest available information indicates that the likely cost of the regular careers services of local authorities in England in the financial year 1979–80 was £32.1 millions. Additional posts for unemployment specialists were funded directly by the Government at an estimated cost in 1979–80 of £ 2.8 million.

My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales are responsible for the careers service in those countries.

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