§ Mr. Hillasked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is proposing to take to alleviate the heavy work load put on the youth employment services in Southampton; and how many staff are involved now and how many are envisaged in 1980–81.
§ Mr. Jim Lester[pursuant to his reply, 15 December 1980]: Under the Employment and Training Act 1973 provision of a careers service is a statutory duty of local education authorities, which are responsible for their careers service staffing. Advice is available to authorities from my Department's careers service inspectorate.
On 1 April 1980, the latest date for which detailed information is available, the establishment provided by the Hampshire county council for the careers service in its south-western division, of which Southampton is a part, was 25 careers officers and 24 support staff.
In addition, under my Department's scheme to strengthen the careers service in areas of high unemployment Hampshire county council has been allocated five careers officer and six employment asssistant posts, plus 10 per cent. clerical support. Of these posts, which are funded by 100 per cent. direct grant from Government funds, two careers officers and two employment assistants have been allocated to the southwestern division.
On 21 November my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced that a further 200 posts under the scheme would be made available nationally from 1 April 1981 to help the careers service play a full part in the expansion of the Manpower Services Commission's youth opportunities programme. An additional two careers officers and two employment assistant posts, plus 10 per cent. clerical support, have been offered to Hampshire county council and it is expected that one or more will be allocated to the south-western division.