§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many private employers taking applicants under the youth opportunities programmme had not received monitoring visits at the latest available date; and whether any steps are being taken to increase the number of staff for this purpose.
§ Mr. Alison[pursuant to his reply, 30 November 1981, c. 8–9]: It is not possible to provide information in the form requested. However, the Manpower Services Commission estimates that at the end of October visits were due to about 17,000 schemes providing work experience on employers premises (WEEP). This total included a significant proportion of schemes which had already been visited but to which a second or subsequent visit was due under the Commission's continuous monitoring programme. During October visits to WEEP schemes totalled over 8,000, the highest monthly total since monitoring began.
The Government are currently considering the staffing implications of improvements in YOP provision.