HC Deb 30 April 1981 vol 3 c429W
Mr. Richard Wainwright

asked the Secretary of State for Employment whether, in view the fact that under the new arrangements there are three days a year from which young people registering as unemployed can apply for benefit, he anticipates any temporary reduction in their number; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Peter Morrison

In general, school leavers who register as unemployed during each of the three main school holidays, or the preceding term, will not be entitled to benefit until the beginning of the following term. They will, nevertheless, be counted in the figures of unemployed from the date they register, whether or not receiving benefit. Under these new arrangements, the absence of benefit until September for this summer's school leavers may have an effect on the numbers registering as unemployed, but it is not possible to estimate the likely numbers affected or the timing.