Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Employment what further steps he is taking to improve employment prospects for school leavers in the Greater Manchester county.
§ Mr. Jim LesterThe employment prospects for school leavers in Greater Manchester, as elsewhere, depend on the success of the Government's policies designed to reduce inflation and create a better climate for investment and enterprise, which in turn will lead to lower unemployment. The Government nevertheless recognise that youth unemployment in Greater Manchester is too high and have accepted the proposal of the Manpower Services Commission that the size of the youth opportunities programme for unemployed young people be expanded by 25 per cent. in 1980–81. This will mean an estimated 13,500 unemployed young people will enter YOP in the Greater Manchester county this year.
Mr. Jim Callaghanasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many school leavers who left school in summer 1979 are still unemployed in the county districts of Greater Manchester.
§ Mr. Jim LesterThe statistics do not distinguish those school leavers who left school in the summer of 1979 from other unemployed school leavers. However, in March 1980 there were 938 unemployed school leavers in the Greater Manchester metropolitan county. For later months, the numbers are higher and largely reflect registration of those who left school at Easter 1980 or subsequently.
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§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many school leavers in the summer of 1979 (a) found employment (b) were offered places on youth opportunities programmes and (c) were registered as unemployed; and what percentage this was in each case;
(2) how many school leavers in the spring of 1980 (a) found employment (b) were offered places on youth opportunities programmes and (c) were registered as unemployed; and what percentage this was in each case.
§ Mr. Jim Lester[pursuant to his reply, 23 June 1980, c. 34–5]: I regret that the information is not all available in the form requested by the hon. Member. However, the Department of Education and Science estimates that some 700,000 young people left school for employment in the academic year 1978–79, of whom 600,000 left in the summer term and that 97,000 young people left school for employment during the Christmas and Easter terms of the current academic year.
I am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that no estimate can be made of how many of them found employment. The commission does not monitor spring and summer school leavers separately, but by August 1979 about 30,000 1978–79 school leavers had already entered the youth opportunities programme and about 175,000 were registered as unemployed and potentially covered by the undertaking to school leavers to find them a YOP place by Easter. Since then a further 100,000 have had a place on the programme; the remainder left the register—mainly for employment. It is not possible to say how many Christmas 1979 and Easter 1980 school leavers are at present unemployed.
On 10 April 1980, there remained fewer than 500 1978–79 school leavers who were unemployed and for whom provision on the youth opportunities programme had still to be made. As in previous years the MSC has undertaken to find a place on the youth opportunities programme by Easter 1981 for all those 1979–80 school leavers who are unemployed.