§ Lord AVEBURYasked Her Majesty's Government:
713WAWhat resources have been made available to the MSC, and through other channels respectively for the support of training and job creation schemes which are particularly relevant to young black people.
The Earl of GOWRIEThe Government have made available to the MSC £183 million to enable it to expand the Youth Opportunities Programme by 25 per cent. and to provide up to 260,000 work experience and work preparation opportunities for 16–18 year olds unemployed for six weeks. YOP aims to continue its two undertakings that no school-leaver who is still unemployed by the following Easter and no young person who is unemployed for more than 12 months will be without the offer of a suitable opportunity within the programme. These undertakings are relevant to all unemployed school-leavers and all long-term young unemployed whether black or white.
In addition a grant of £17 million is made to Community Industry, who provide temporary employment for disadvantaged young people including those from ethnic minorities.
As regards training in skills, the 500 different courses provided under the Training Opportunities Scheme (TOPS) are available to young people over the age of 19 who meet the general standards of entry into such training. Estimated expenditure on TOPS in 1980/81 is £190 million (1979 Survey prices).