§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Employment how much money has been expended on employment training schemes and job creation in the parliamentary constituency of the Isle of Ely in 1979–80; and what were the amounts expended in 1977 and 1978.
§ Mr. Jim LesterI am informed by the special programmes division of the Manpower Services Commission (MSC), which administers the youth opportunities programme (YOP) and the special temporary employment programme (STEP), that the expenditure on these programmes is monitored on an area office basis. Therefore, specific figures for the Isle of Ely are not available.
However, for the Ipswich area—which includes the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex—the following expenditure applies to the current programmes:
Financial Year: 1978/79 1979/80 YOP: £1,429,000 £3,256,000 STEP: £396,000 £1,142,000 Expenditure figures for the job creation programme and work experience programme—the forerunners of YOP and STEP—in 1977 and 1978 can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
In addition, the Manpower Services Commission provides training under its training opportunity scheme (TOPS) for adults who may be employed or unemployed at time of application. Information on the cost of this training is not available by parliamentary constituencies and cannot be given for the Isle of Ely. The following table
82Wshows the total amounts expended on TOPS courses nationally and for the South-East region, which includes the Isle of Ely.
Total Tops Expenditure (Outturn Prices) South East Region Expenditure 1977/78 £189.005m* £21.984m* (11.6%) 1978/79 £206.617m* £20.986m* (10.2%) 1979/80 £230.597m £21.830m (9.5%) *Cost of training provided for unemployed young people are included in the figures for 1977–78 and 1978–79. Note: South-East region expenditure comprises allowances and fees only. Total expenditure is not available without disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons of 18 years of age and under there are in the parliamentary constituency of the Isle of Ely who have never had a job; and if he will provide comparable figures for 1977, 1978 and 1979.
§ Mr. Jim LesterI shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.