§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many places are currently available in the Basildon constituency for the youth opportunities programme and the special temporary employment 87W programme; and what increase in the number of places in the youth opportunities programme and the new community enterprise programme, replacing the STEP, will take place in the light of his statement to the House on 21 November.
§ Mr. Jim Lester[pursuant to his reply, 28 November 1980: I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission (MSC) special programmes division that figures relating to the youth opportunities programme (YOP) are collected by local authority district (LAD). For the LAD of Basildon, which corresponds to the parliamentary constituency of Basildon, there are currently some 360 approved places for the programme. Plans for next year have still to be finalised and until then the MSC has undertaken to keep the level of provision under careful review to ensure that the present undertakings to young people are met.
Under the existing geographic restrictions, the special temporary employment programme (STEP) does not operate in the South-East region. The recently announced community enterprise programme which will replace STEP on 1 April 1981 will apply nationwide. Provided scheme sponsors come forward, long-term unemployed people in the Basildon area will obtain employment under the programme, but it is not possible to predict the precise number likely to be involved.